ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A German railway operator came up with a novel way of choosing an automated cleaning system to fulfil a huge station cleaning contract.

DB Services - the contract arm of Deutsche Bahn - pitted four machines against one other on a 200 square metre course. Robots from Diversey, Cleanfix, Adlatus Robotics and Hefter Cleantech were all entered for the Automated Cleaning Challenge.

During the course each scrubber dryer had to deal with a variety of detritus including ketchup stains and leftover chips. The robots' reaction to people and obstacles were assessed along with their cleaning performance, operational safety and the quality of the finish.

The jury panel also considered each robot's ability to orient itself in the station and its aptitude for optimising cleaning routes, The winner - yet to be announced - will receive a two-year contract to work with DB on the development of automated station cleaning systems.

The challenge was organised by DB Services in association with the DB Mindbox digital innovation lab.

The 5.400-plus German train stations run by Deutsche Bahn have a total floor area of more than 1.8 million square metres. Up to now the multi-million euro contract has been fulfilled using conventional scrubber dryers operated at night.

DB Services is now looking to incorporate cleaning robots as part of a drive to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness.