Window Cleaning Robot "Slated"

Winbot W730, the Window Cleaning Robot. "In the end, there’s no way I can recommend this as a product. For $400, you want a window cleaner who doesn’t miss spots, won’t leave streaks, and isn’t going to get cranky when faced with anything other than a generous expanse of undivided pane. You’re much better off hiring a person—preferably a professional—to do the job."

This Bot Does Windows - It’ll clean your panes inside and out. But is it worth $400? (By Seth Stevenson) Cleaning windows is so arduous and dangerous that it earned its own 20th-century catchphrase. “I don’t do windows”—a warning that the speaker may be desperate but still has limits—was a frequent sitcom one-liner in the ’70s. The meme grew popular enough that, according to William Safire, it likely spawned the entire “I don’t do mornings/Mondays/etc.” phrasal construction. How miserable is the chore? I’ll let country songsmith Hank Cochran answer. In the 1980 ditty “I Don’t Do Windows,” he equated scrubbing panes with eternal damnation: “There’s some things that I just won't do. I think it’s time that I told them to you. I don’t do windows and I won’t go to hell for you.”

My own windows are a source of mild shame. Anyone in the building across the way can observe how flecked with schmutz they’ve become. I haven’t cleaned their exteriors since I moved in a couple of years ago. Partly that’s because I’m lazy (as evidenced by the fact that I haven’t cleaned their interiors either), but partly it’s because to do so I’d need to wager life and limb by dangling out over a four-story drop. Thus I was excited to borrow a Winbot—a robot that pledges to polish your windows, mirrors, and other glass surfaces without you rigging up a harness and going all human fly. This compact, square droid will vacuum-attach itself to a pane and then scuttle around squeegeeing off all the muck it encounters.

The approach is almost identical to that of the Scooba robot floor mop I recently reviewed, except the Winbot dares to get vertical. Like the Scooba, it’s programmed to automatically cover the entire surface you place it on, and then stop when it’s done, alerting you with a fanfare of beeps. Set it to work, go out for a walk, and return to a crystal-clear view of the world outside. Sounded fantastic to this fourth-story apartment dweller.

Before I exposed the Winbot to the elements, I tried it out on the large mirror that covers the wall above the vanity in my bathroom. I began by spraying cleaning solution onto a soft, fabric pad that’s attached to the Winbot’s base. Then I plugged the bot in, turned it on, and stuck it to the mirror. Amazingly, it stayed there. The motor created enough suction to let the Winbot cling to this sheer, vertical surface with seemingly little difficulty. When I hit the start button, the bot began to merrily crawl to and fro—like a very conscientious, domestically oriented Spider-Man.

When no catastrophes ensued, I brought the Winbot out to my living room. I slid open a window, reached around to the outside, and affixed the Winbot to the exterior. Then I used the remote control to launch the cleaning program. Again, the little bot did its thing without falling off. The front pad, soaked with the cleaning solution, sponged away dirt. The rear pad followed behind, sopping up the resulting detritus. Though I never saw the Winbot have any trouble maintaining suction, there is a special fail-safe retaining device—a tether rooted to the inside of the window by one of those old-school, nonelectrified suction cups—to ensure that, in the event of an unplanned dismount, the Winbot won’t free-fall and create a surprise for someone on the avenue below.

When the Winbot was done cleaning, I used its remote to steer it back to a reachable spot on the window. I turned it off, pulled it off the glass, and brought it back inside. Then I assessed the results. The window was drastically less dirty. The bulk of the glass looked pretty fantastic. But just as the Winbot replicates the Scooba’s approach to cleaning, it also mimics the Scooba’s crucial flaw: It can’t quite reach all the way to edges or into corners. Its overhanging bumpers don’t let the cleaning pads get flush to the sides of your windows, so it leaves slender areas untouched. Using the remote control, I was able to maneuver the Winbot back to these spots and, by guiding it patiently and carefully, clean a few millimeters closer to the edges. But there remained schmutzy regions that simply could not be un-schmutzed.

Plus: streaks. The Winbot left swoops of filmy residue marking its path. In the bathroom, when the mirror got steamy during a shower, I could even make out the pattern of the Winbot’s little tank treads clearly marked on the glass. The fact that a chamois cloth comes packed in the box—with directions suggesting you use it to finish up each job—suggests that Ecovacs, the Chinese company behind the Winbot, is aware of the problem. But if I need to lean out a window 50 feet above street level to manually polish windows with a cloth, the very purpose of the droid is defeated.

Because it’s corded, the device also suffers from a more basic flaw. The cord needs to trail out the window, which means you can’t pull the window fully shut. Depending on the nature of your windows, this open position can leave a slim margin of the pane obscured. The Winbot has no hope of cleaning that area.

Live in a colder climate? The Winbot doesn’t work when the temperature outside is below 40 degrees. It affects the suction strength—the bot can’t find purchase on the cold glass. You’re out of luck all winter, Northerners with dirty panes. And of course, the Winbot can’t leap over muntins. So it’s pretty useless unless you can sic it on wide swaths of uninterrupted glass. You wouldn’t want to keep reattaching the thing to each little square in your big gridded bay.

In the end, there’s no way I can recommend this as a product. For $400, you want a window cleaner who doesn’t miss spots, won’t leave streaks, and isn’t going to get cranky when faced with anything other than a generous expanse of undivided pane. You’re much better off hiring a person—preferably a professional—to do the job. (Unless you want to clean your windows with abnormal frequency and are OK with the above mentioned limitations. Or you just hate humans and strive to eliminate all service jobs.)

Still, given that—as far as I can tell—robots can’t yet tie shoelaces unaided, I have to marvel at how close we’re getting to creating effective domestic droids. There’s already a pool-cleaning bot, an aquarium-cleaning bot, a grill-cleaning bot, and a slew of bot vacuums. These devices may not be flawless yet, but they will without doubt improve quickly.

I can easily envision a cordless Winbot that manages to clean every cranny and leaves behind no streaky traces of its efforts. When this magical robot eventually arrives in stores, I’ll be the first in line. If there’s one thing I know about my future self, it’s that he still doesn’t do windows.

More on the Winbot here.

Inside The Winbot - Robotic Window Cleaner

How it works. Click to enlarge.

Inside the Winbot 730, a Robotic Window Cleaner: If you don’t do windows, fear not: there’s a robot for you. The Winbot from Ecovacs is designed to automatically clean windows and other smooth glass surfaces with the push of a button. The Winbot works much like other cleaning robots, including those built by iRobot that zip around your floor. When the Winbot is placed on glass, it figures out the size of the surface, then travels back and forth to clean it.

Though the device needs to be plugged in and put in place by hand, it functions largely free of human intervention. The window cleaning robots come in two options. Both models, the 710 and 730, work on framed glass. The more-expensive 730 model also is equipped with a frameless window detection system so you can clean mirrors and glass doors, according to Ecovacs, the manufacturer of the Winbot. The 730 below costs $400.

Underbelly of the Winbot.

Window Cleaning Robot Alters Your Views In Minutes: Dog breath vapored and finger printed windows, shaving creamed and water spotted mirrors are irritating, but seldom rise to the level of must clean more than monthly. Actually, I rarely clean the bay windows or sliding door glass unless company comes and the streaking that remains makes me wish I'd left them dirty.  But if I had a robot to clean the buggers, it might just change my view about the whole process. Alas, here's the Winbot by Ecovacs....A professional window washing robot!

Yes, the Winbot is clinging to the window by itself. Its suction cups, vacuum pump, and anti-slip treads allow it to remain vertical and slide effortlessly across your window.  Here's the 'mysterious underbelly' of the bot... You can see the suction cups and the tread.  Now look at the larger micropad in the front of the bot; that, along with the Winbot's own cleaning solution, washes your windows.  And the smaller micropad on the rear side is what dries your windows. No streaks.  Windows clean in a matter of minutes and the bot even revisits more stubborn streaks. The Winbot comes with a 10-foot electrical cord for operation; in addition, a suction-backed battery pack is included in case of a power outage (so the bot doesn't fall off the window).

For more on the Ecovacs Winbot see:

Window Cleaning Robot Has It's Limits

The March (Slow Crawl) Of The Window Cleaning Robots

The Rise Of The Window Robots

The Joy Of Clear Glass

Mr. Savadian said that since his company invented the Winbot, he no longer does his own windows.

Robot cleans up competition: A robotic window cleaner invented by a teenager has cleaned up at the Bright Spark Awards. The contraption created by Sohail Abdulla in his Mt Roskill basement laboratory took the top prize at the awards this month. Sohail started working on the robot two years ago after seeing his father struggling to clean the windows because of back and knee pain. "The idea is to develop it to clean high-rise buildings. A lot of people have lost their lives cleaning the windows up high," the 18-year-old says.

Last year's version won him a third prize in the Bright Spark Awards and separately he scored the American Ambassador Outstanding Award at the Realise the Dream award ceremony. His win saw him jetting to Phoenix, Arizona, to take part in the INTEL Science and Engineering Fair. "This new version is completely different, I've built it again from scratch," he says. "I've tried to make the size of the device smaller and decrease the weight."

The revised robot is now comprised of two units. The control panel component lets the user move the device and has an LCD that monitors progress of the clean on a little map. The cleaning unit attaches to the window and moves across using a series of suckers. Two squeegees on the unit tackle the dirt and dust and a final wipe is done by a microfibre cloth.

The Bright Sparks judges were impressed with Sohail's design, which integrates software, electronics and mechanical engineering elements. As the winner of the 17 years and above category he receives a $1000 cash prize. Taking the Supreme Award means he will get mentoring from Baldwin's Intellectual Property. In his quest to improve the robot the next step will be giving it the ability to traverse over ledges.

The Joy Of Clear Glass

Mr. Savadian said that since his company invented the Winbot, he no longer does his own windows. Behind his triumph, I thought I detected a hint of regret.

The Joy of Clear Glass: Spring is just around the corner, and that can mean only one thing: spring cleaning. Actually, spring means lots of things—trees budding, birds singing, more hours of daylight—with cleaning ranking pretty far down the list, at least at our house. I'm just trying to make this column sound more timely because, truth be told, the desire I'm here to address can strike me at any season and at almost any hour.

It's not what you think. I'm referring to cleaning my windows. There are few things that annoy me quite as much as a dirty window, as having to observe the world through a layer of filth. And the great thing is, I can do something about it. I'd go so far as to say that little in life delivers greater satisfaction than transforming a window stained with dust and dirt into a perfectly transparent surface through which to admire the planet.

As a brief aside, a while back I visited 30 Rock to interview Chuck Scarborough, the veteran local NBC News anchorman. As impressive an individual as he was, I couldn't believe how dirty his office windows were. The view was great—overlooking Rockefeller Center and the ice-skating rink—but you could only dimly perceive it through the grime. He told me the landlord didn't clean them and he sounded helpless to do anything about it. "Damn it, man," I thought and probably declared, though slightly less strenuously, "you're Chuck Scarborough. You deserve clean windows."

One more almost totally unrelated point regarding the subject of window cleaning: I used to attend a writing group that met occasionally at a Central Park West apartment. The bathroom faced the park. People pay millions of dollars for views of the park, yet the bathroom window was frosted. Why? There wasn't another person who could see the occupants when they showered any closer than Fifth Avenue. And any voyeur would still have to use a high-powered telescope.

My bathroom window has no such view. Yet, when it was installed, I had the manufacturer make the bottom pane of glass frosted for privacy, but the top pane clear so that I could see the world—the clouds scudding by; the seagulls circling. I bet people don't realize there are seagulls circling the city, high in the air, all the time. I wouldn't have, either, if I hadn't insisted on a clear pane.

I offer the Chuck Scarborough outrage and my custom-made bathroom window as proof that I take window cleanliness seriously. So it made sense that when Nick Savadian, executive general manager of Ecovac Robotics, was in town recently I'd seek an audience. Ecovac manufactures the Winbot, a window-cleaning robot.

Given my passion for clean windows, you might think that I'd regard Mr. Savadian and his product as saviors of a sort. No way. Here's why: As much as I love clean windows, 50% of the pleasure—no, 75%—comes from polishing them myself. Like everybody else, I delay gratification. I tell myself they're not that dirty; it can wait; there are more productive things I could be doing with my time.

No, there aren't.

There are also elements of risk involved. My windows in the city open inward for easy cleaning. Nonetheless, I sometimes get carried away and extend my brass squeegee so far outside that I risk tumbling nine stories to the ground. (By the way, I'm not recommending those who live in buildings with old-fashioned windows purchase a harness and straps and hang out over the street for the satisfaction of clean windows; please leave those to professionals.) And my windows upstate have storm windows over them. So, for every window, you're effectively cleaning two windows. Indeed, one could spend the whole day cleaning windows, a temptation I resist.

But when the chore is completed, I never regret it. I may regret a smudge I missed or a streak from the squeegee that shows I could have done a better job. But few things fill me with the same sense of well being as the ability to see the world through clear glass. It's almost as if the sense of control you possess over your immediate space extends out infinitely. You become a god.

So, obviously, it was with no small amount of skepticism that I listened to Mr. Savadian as he touted his window-cleaning robot. He explained that it joins other domestic robots manufactured by his company, including the Deebot, which does floors, and the Atmobot, which chases down pollutants while playing your favorite music. For example, you could be sitting there smoking a Cohiba when all of a sudden you have company; it'll suck in the smoke and serenade you with something by Nirvana. Whether you want company is another matter.

The way the Winbot, which I borrowed for a week, works is that it attaches itself to a window, like a tick, and then scuttles back and forth, its brain somehow mapping the window's dimensions and remembering the area it has already covered. It has certain limitations. It probably won't conquer caked-on grime if you don't wash your windows regularly. And it will only clean windows in the vertical position. Since mine in the city angle for cleaning, the Winbot wouldn't work on them. I suppose I could just attach the device to the outside of the window in its upright position—it comes with a large suction cup to prevent it from falling—but I don't think I'd want to suffer the legal consequences if it somehow lost suction and plummeted nine stories onto the head of an unsuspecting pedestrian.

"Go and enjoy your life," the personable Mr. Savadian told me. "When it's finished, it will play a song and move to the other pane."

Actually, you have to move it. As talented as it is, it can't unsuction itself, climb down, cross the room, pause for a beer, and start on the next window. It still requires a human handler.

But that's not the point. The point is that for some perverse reason, I enjoy cleaning my own windows. (Did I mention that it also saves money? Professional window cleaners can set you back hundreds of bucks.)

"You're the second person in the world" who likes cleaning his own windows, Mr. Savadian told me.

"Who's the first?" I asked.

"You're looking at him," he said. "I'm a clean freak. Clean windows are like clean vision. The sunlight comes in differently. It changes you mood. These are medically proven facts. You have an improved outlook towards life—healthy and happy."

So why deny us obsessive-compulsive types the small pleasures in life? He mentioned do-it-yourself problems such as streaks and dirty water dripping onto floors and carpets. Details.

We even compared notes on our squeegees. He has the two-sided variety, sponge on one side, squeegee on the other. I prefer the classic one-sided squeegee, which I apply after washing the window with a separate sponge soaked in soapy water. Streaks and hard-to-reach corners are promptly addressed with a small towel, just like the pros do.

Mr. Savadian said that since his company invented the Winbot, he no longer does his own windows. Behind his triumph, I thought I detected a hint of regret.

Window Cleaning Robot Has It's Limits

The Winbot robotic window cleaner clings to the glass by suction, wets it and wipes it dry.

Ecovacs Winbot sucks glass to clean your panes: This window-washing robot showing at CES 2013 has easy stick-on and clean operation. But don't chuck your Windex yet. In Las Vegas robots that wash your windows are another dream of domestic automation, but most early models involve a cumbersome two-part unit that goes on both sides of a pane. At  CES 2013, China-based Ecovacs is showing off a new version of its Winbot window washer, one that doesn't require a magnetic support on the other side of the glass. Just stick the Winbot 7 series on the window, press start, and it starts moving up and down. That's a lot easier than handling two machines.

It can work wirelessly on a battery charge, but when used above ground level it's best to attach a safety cable, which doubles as a power supply, to the unit and the window itself. Winbot was exhibited at IFA 2012, and it's billed as the only bot of its kind that cleans glass of any thickness, even Thermopanes. But it won't work on frosted glass or panes with writing or signage on them.

Winbot has a vacuum pump that seals it to the glass, while letting it move around automatically. It travels in a zig-zag pattern before doing the edges. It cleans by wiping with a solution-moistened cleaning pad, then squeegee-ing remaining dirt, and then drying with a rear pad. That sounds good enough to toss out your Windex, but unless you have floor-to-ceiling views, repositioning Winbot to clean smaller windows will still be a pain in the pane.

Following earlier versions, the latest Winbot was launched in China last year and is expected to go on sale in the U.S. in the spring of this year. A $299 version will clean windows that have frames, in other words well-defined borders, while a $349 version will be able to clean glass walls or windows that have no frames. Now all they need are legs, and they'll be cleaning skyscrapers.

Winbot won’t complain about cleaning windows: So when a robot-like device comes along that can perform a cleaning task on its own so that we don’t have to, it naturally gets people talking. Ecovacs Robotics’ Winbot 7 certainly had people talking (and gawking) at CES 2013. This little robot cleans windows and can get to hard-to-reach areas better than humans can. Winbot 7 sticks to any window with two powerful vacuum suctions, and moves around the window using a set of rotating suction cups that power the robot along. A cleaning cloth wipes away dust, grime, and moisture as the Winbot zig-zags across the glass.

When first set on the window, Winbot crawls to the very bottom, and then to the very top, to measure the window size. It then movies across the window in a zig-zag pattern, making sure to cover every inch of surface. When finished, Winbot crawls back to the spot where it started. The time needed per window of course will vary with the window size, but the robot moves pretty fast overall. While the Winbot is great for a quick dust or clean, it doesn’t provide much elbow grease—tougher water spots or stains might need extra cleaning. Another drawback to Winbot is its movement limitations. It isn’t cordless, so it’s stuck with cleaning windows within reach of its 10-foot power cord. You’ll have to manually pick Winbot up and move it to another spot if the window is bigger.

Still, having a personal window cleaning assistant is pretty helpful. And you can see where this might go in the future. Home vacuuming robots have overcome similar limitations, dramatically reducing the human help they need to get their work done. Someday soon we may see a machine like the Winbot that is wireless, jumps from window to window, and can be set to automatically do the windows every seven days. Winbot 7 is set to go on sale in the spring, and will be priced between $299 and $399.

Super Suction Lets This Window Cleaning Bot Stick To Glass: Designed to complement the Roomba, the Scuba, and the myriad of other cleaning robots that keep your floors spic and span, the new Winbot 7 uses its suction powers to stick to and clean your windows instead. So when it's available come April for somewhere around $400 to $500, you may never have to buy Windex or paper towels again. The Winbot 7 is actually an upgrade to an older model that required a magnetic backing on the other side of the window to hold it in place. Instead, the Winbot 7 uses a pair of suction rings powered by a strong motor to cling to the side of a smooth window, while a set of soft silicone treads drive it around. Once a strong seal is made, indicated by a color-changing LED, the Winbot 7 will quickly explore the entire window, calculating its size so it can plan out an effective cleaning routine. After that it zig-zags its away across a pane using a pad soaked in cleaning solution to wipe off dirt and grime. Power is provided by a tethered cable that also serves as a last resort lifeline should the bot lose power and suction, but a three hour backup battery is included that will keep the suction motor running until it can be rescued.

Ecovacs claims that the Winbot 7 is the only window-cleaning robot that can clean windows of any thickness. There are two models—the W710 is for framed windows and the W730 can be used on both framed and frameless. Unlike window bots of the past, the Winbot 7 doesn't require a magnetic support on the other side of the glass. Instead, it has a vacuum pump that seals it to the glass then cleans with a moist pad on one side, a built-in squeegee and a drying pad on the other side. When first placed on the window, the Winbot 7 is programmed to "measure' the window and determine the best path. It does so by crawling from the bottom of the window to the top and then cleaning in a zig-zag motion. For a normal-sized window, it can complete its task in 10 minutes or less. That's plenty of time for you to grab a cup of coffee. The Winbot 7 reportedly will be available in the spring, just in time for spring cleaning, at a cost of $299 to $399.

Most visitors miss the surprises that can be found in a plain corner called the “International Gateway,” where manufacturers from Asia display unglamorous components and offbeat items. Man Hyun Ryu (right) demonstrated two Windoros for a visitor to the booth of South Korea’s Ilshim Global. Much as iRobot’s Roomba will vacuum your floor, Ilshim’s Windoro will clean your window as it moves across the glass. Each unit has two pieces held together by magnets—one for the inside of a window and one for the outside. The devices, which are about $450, are available in Japan, Korea, and Europe. They clean one side of a window at a time; Ilshim is developing a version that does both sides.

Another Window Cleaning Robot - Windoro - here & here.