One of the busiest seaports in the U.S. is testing electric driverless autonomous street sweepers to clean parking lots, warehouses and garages.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is testing the robot cleaners.
Meet Trombia Free.
This autonomous street cleaner was trialed at one of the United States’ busiest seaports. The metal, fiberglass and plastic vehicle is made by Finnish company Trombia. Ignacio McBeatch, from the Port Authority of NY & NJ says it will provide economic savings.
“The conventional street sweeper currently only operates during normal business days. This allows us to extend that service into the evenings and weekends, so more coverage, more bang for the buck.”
Each street sweeper costs $450,000, weighs 5,000 pounds, and can pick up three to four thousand pounds of wet and dry debris, according to Antti Nikkanen, Trombia Technologies CEO.
It’s the next step from a robotic vacuum cleaner found in many homes, says Nikkanen.
“I think we all know it from our living rooms that everyone wants to automate cleaning. Over time automation is going to be there. It’s going to start from these kind of locations where you need to increase cleaning frequency for the accumulation of dust and you need to upgrade the cleanliness of different industrial sites. So parking garages, industrial lots, that’s going to be a significant growth area over the next five years.”
The robot sweeper travels 2.5 miles per hour and uses 3-D lidar—light detection and ranging sensors—to stop if someone is blocking the path and maneuvering around obstacles.
Safety concerns and regulations have stalled the widespread use of passenger self-driving cars.
Seaport officials are testing whether the autonomous cleaning vehicles can be safely used in closed, controlled industrial environments like the port, replacing diesel-powered sweepers and operating around the clock.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.