Development of Wall Coating Removal Robot

We have developed a wall coating removal robot for refurbishing exterior walls of buildings. This robot consists of a base machine, capable of adhering to and travelling freely along walls surfaces by means of suction pad and four wheels, and a rotating water jet nozzle built into the suction pad. The special feature of this robot is that this suction pad can suck up removed materials and water through vacuum hose without scattering them around. Basic tests for evaluating the travelling and removal performance of the robot on two types of wall coating were performed. In addition, a device which provides the robot with a supplementary function of removing wall coating from the peripheral areas of walls was experimentally produced, and some tests were performed on the two types of wall coating mentioned above to assess its removal performance. This report describes the results of these tests and the problems to be solved in the future.