by the cleaning companies. Some cleaning robots have already been developed. These are controlled with a remote control. However, the operator still has to see what is happening, and thus stand in the confined space because the robot is blind. In 2016, Smart Tooling started looking for solutions to achieve an autonomously functioning cleaning robot. Until then, there were tele-operated systems. A cleaning operator had to control the robot via a screen, so he had to be constantly present which was not efficient enough. AUTONOMOUS The Smart Tooling participants wanted to develop a compact, powerful robot, which you put in a barrel, tank or silo and take out again after a while. The result: A space that has been cleaned according to specifications and is ready for inspection. Both technical and cleaning companies, worked together on an integrated system that was based on an existing type of cleaning robot. Autonomous location determination, navigation, inspection and reporting had to be combined. Hans Borgt was leader of the cluster, being both a stakeholder from Dow and an a field expert. "In the end, an existing DERC Hammelmann crawler with remote control was chosen. This robot crawls with magnets against the tank wall and is a tried and tested cleaning robot. The system is connected to the outside world with hoses for cleaning and disposal," he says. LOCATION AND ROUTING Nobleo Technology, Accerion and Serenity then dealt with the issue of autonomy. Rob Hendrikx of Nobleo Technology: "We gave the robot 28
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