Snail: An Eco-Friendly Autonomous Steam Mopping Robot for Cleaning and Disinfection of Floors

Abstract

Steam mopping is an eco-friendly solution for cleaning and disinfecting floors, avoiding harsh chemicals or harmful UV lights. Currently, commercial steam mopping systems are manually operated, which is laborious and unsafe. This work presents the design methodology of a novel, eco-friendly autonomous steam mopping robot named ‘Snail’ for cleaning and disinfecting typical indoor floors, namely tile, carpet, concrete, vinyl, sealed wood, and rugs. Our work is mainly focused on (1) the mechanical system design, including the locomotion, steam dispenser, and mopping unit, (2) the hardware and software architecture, and (3) the motion control system’s design for smooth maneuverability and mitigating friction forces. A high-gain friction estimator is proposed, whose output is exploited by the motion controller to follow the desired path and compensate for the traction-based locomotion disturbances due to extensive mop contact with a rough-textured floor, such as carpet. The proposed autonomous steam mopping robot’s efficiency is validated with different floors with zig-zagging cleaning patterns, setting a minimum of 100 °C as the disinfecting steam criterion. Using the proposed motion control algorithm, we validate the smooth maneuverability, assuring the robot traverses with a given speed and follows the trajectory even on a rough carpeted floor. The cleaning efficiency is tested by removing hard stains, consuming less water, and faster wet floor drying. The robot used only one liter of water to clean a 5 m2 floor area, and the drying time was found to be four times faster than normal water mopping. The proposed steam mopping robot design is ideal for cleaning and disinfecting hospitals and eldercare centers, where hygiene is crucial, and promoting going green, avoiding harsh chemicals, and mitigating current cleaner labor concerns, including the risk of infection.