Dustbot

The term DustBot (german dirt robots) have summarized several different robot under development.

Their common characteristic is that they can eliminate waste completely independently. As part of an ongoing since the end of 2006 the European research project took place in 2009 and field testing of Dustbots so far in Italy and Sweden instead, which caused a worldwide media coverage.

Similar developments and practical tests carried out in South Korea and Japan.

Function and development

The autonomous robot navigating by GPS and can always be "ordered" by call or SMS. The robots find their way to customers alone, collect the garbage and go as independent back to their headquarters or to the landfill. For that particular purpose a special "intelligent environment" must be created, equipped with cameras and special sensors for monitoring and coordination of autonomous robots with each other over the Internet.

The development of Dustbots is ( Networked and Cooperating Robots for Urban Hygiene ) pursued at the Universities of Örebro, Pisa, Florence and Lucerne in the same project DustBot since December 2006. The estimated project cost is approximately 2.8 million euros for 36 months. There are nine partners from five nations, including Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as several businesses and the European Union involved. The first prototypes have been running since the beginning of 2009 in Volterra / Italy and in Örebro / Sweden.

The aim is to develop a " system to improve urban hygiene" especially in the old, heavily built European cities.

Technology

The robots are equipped beside GPS also via stored road maps of their area of ​​application. They are able to make use of wireless communication. In order to avoid obstacles, ultrasonic and infrared sensors are installed. In addition, the Dustbots have pollutant sensors with which they can measure the air pollution. Your capacity is 40 kg.

The DustCart Robot will use the Segway system as a platform with which it will be fast up to 15 km / hr. The range is 19-24 miles at a running time of about six hours. The empty weight is 64 kg. The DustCart Robot will have a user interface, so the customer amount and type of waste to which the DustBot was loaded, may specify.

Types

There are two types of Dustrobots. DustClean wrong as suction and sweeping robot over the streets and keeps them clean. Called The other version, DustCart Robot, serves as a kind of garbage containers, which can be ordered by phone call or SMS and then loaded with waste.