The robot has cleaned the windows of Manhattan buildings such as 10 Hudson Yards, 383 Madison Avenue, 825 Third Avenue and 7 World Trade Center.
Israeli robotics specialist Skyline Robotics is looking to transform the window washing industry in the United States with the introduction of a window washing robot called Ozmo. This innovative technology, which is operational in New York, Tel Aviv and has already worked in Manhattan, can replace human labor, and minimize the risks of workers performing one of the most dangerous professions in the country.
According to a report on CNBC, the company has partnered with the largest window cleaning company, Platinum, and real estate giant The Durst Organization, to clean the windows of major buildings with this new technology. It has worked on major Manhattan buildings such as 10 Hudson Yards, 383 Madison Avenue, 825 Third Avenue and 7 World Trade Center.
How does it work?
The CNBC text explains that the robot is an articulated arm, which hangs from the sides of high-rise structures, and receives instructions from a LiDAR camera. It has a brush on the end, which receives water treated with soap, and moves from right to left scrubbing the windows.
The founder explains that reverse osmosis removes contaminants from the water, which makes the cleaning process more efficient, eliminating the need for separate tools such as window cleaners and brushes, and streamlining the window cleaning process.
Ross Blum, the company’s president and COO, said that although Ozmo is controlled by a human operator at the top of the building, the robot can be operated remotely, anywhere in the world.
Currently, Ozmo costs approximately $500,000, but offers a three- to five-year payback for building owners, detailed, James Halpin, Skyline Robotics board member and CEO of Platinum.
Reduces risk
Skyline Robotics claims that this method allows windows to be cleaned three times faster than a manual worker, and also reduces the risks that people are always hanging from scaffolding, tens or hundreds of feet in the air.
Logistically, Ozmo reduces to a single operator the number of people needed to clean a building, which is three or four human window cleaners, emphasizes the text.
In a press release, Skyline Robotics revealed that it has been working on the robot since 2017 and the company raised $6.5 million in its pre-Series A funding, and a grant from the Israeli government. In total, it has raised $12.9 million to date and closed a $3.35 million funding round on August 7.
Jobs replaced by Robots
The accelerated development of technology, worries society, as to how it will change the labor market, and what will be the role of humans. In this regard, the World Economic Forum’s 2020 report on the future of work indicates that, by 2025, 85 million jobs may be replaced by machines, but 97 million will also emerge adapted to this new machine-human configuration.
On the other hand, the World Economic Forum (WEF), in a report published in 2021, warns that although the use of machines will grow, it will not displace people. However, in three years, the share of machines will increase by 13 percentage points to 45% and the same points will be subtracted from humans, who will end up making up 55% of the workforce.