Design and kinematic analysis of tethered guiding vehicle (TGV) for façade window cleaning

Window cleaning of skyscrapers and facades is one of the most essential and arduous task that is carried out manually and hence posing a threat to manual cleaner's life. Over years, researchers have created skyscraper / window cleaning robots to automate the process of window cleaning, and they have their own limitations. We introduced a tethered guiding vehicle system (TGV) that would carry an already commercially available window cleaning robot to perform window cleaning operation on the surface of skyscrapers and facades and its motion on the surface is controlled and coordinated by the TGV. The design and kinematic analysis of the TGV is carried out in this paper where forces required for climbing up and down the building is calculated and suitable actuator is chosen based on the computed power calculations.