Gecko, the walls cleaner

The paper discusses commercial cleaning robots available on the market. It introduces Gecko, a virtual prototype of a cleaning robot. Gecko has been conceived, assembling mainly standard components, and the actual behaviour in running conditions is shown by using consistent digital mock ups: Gecko is able to fully clean and sanitise floors, walls and ceilings. To comply with health needs, the robot cleans surfaces using steam. Details on abilities and components are provided. The wall sustentation is guaranteed by four suction cups. The path planning allows a 2D Cartesian motion. To simplify the robot control, innovative "automatic suspensions" are integrated in the sustain and actuation system. Finally, other possible applications fields for such a robot are discussed.