WINDOW washers could be out of work soon as spider-like robots have started to take over the notoriously risky field.
The brand new AI cleaning machines recently made their US debut in Dallas, Texas.
Onlookers were stunned to see the tech crawled across Dallas skyscrapers last week, washing windows as it climbed great heights.
The AI-powered robot, made by a company called Verobotics, is called Ibex.
“We have the vertical robot unit, which is the robot that you see that is working with the building,” Verobotics CEO Ido Genosar said, according to CBS affiliate KTVT.
“It’s like Spiderman and a cleaning device.”
The devices vertically climb buildings, cleaning as they go to make sure no spots are missed.
The invention reduces the risk of window-washing for humans, which is known to be a dangerous job due to the tall heights that come with the task.
However, a single person is still involved in Ibex’s work – but from the ground level.
“We call it more of a babysitter, but on the operator perspective, you have a tablet,” Genosar said.
“You just press a button, and the robot knows exactly what it needs to do.”
Genosar told Dallas Innovates the window cleaners work four times faster than humans.
The robots use built-in cameras to scan the surfaces they’re covering and detect window frames to climb over.
“We combine a lot of AI algorithm, vision, and different sensors to actually build and simplify this environment to make it very easy,” Genosar said.
In the US demo of Ibex, the robots were put on the 19th story of a Dallas high-rise and worked their way down the building.
Spectators watched the tech work from the seventh-floor level.
What is Ibex?
Ibex is a window-cleaning robot created by AI company Verobotics.
The tech was named for the mountain-climbing goat Ibex, which easily scales tall heights.
It’s a window-washing robot powered by AI.
Ibex climbs buildings and uses cameras and sensors to help clean every spot it touches.
Plus, the robot is equipped with a fan to help dry as it goes.
The robots are already used across Asia and the Middle East but are now coming to America.
“We decided on Texas because we believe that today it’s one of the fastest growing states here in the US, and we’ve seen the demand here in the market,” Genosar said.
The robots can be used for more than cleaning windows – they can collect data about buildings.
“You don’t need to put anyone at risk,” Genosar said.
“You get a lot of data.”
The tech also inspects structures and tells landlords and property owners where issues might arise in the building.
“It doesn’t make sense that people are still doing the same thing as they did 60, 70 years ago,” Genosar said.
