ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

An automated cleaning system consisting of hundreds of flying robots could be developed for use in our homes, according to an industrial design competition finalist.

The concept, developed by 23-year-old Adrian Perez Zapata, has been awarded first prize in the Electrolux Design Lab awards.

The Mab self-cleaning system would consist of 908 robots that would initially fly around a home to determine which areas needed to be cleaned and how, says Zapata. The robots would then return to a central "core" where they would feed in this information. The inteliigent core unit would then process the information and devise a cleaning schedule.

A detergent solution would be housed in the core, and once a schedule had been developed the microrobots would leave this unit and fly around the house, cleaning surfaces by trapping the dirt particles. Mab would then recommend a weekly cleaning cycle and indicate what resources would be required. The day, time and thoroughness of the cleaning process could all be determined by the user.

"Custom cleaning could also be carried out in specific areas of the house," said Zapata, who is studying at a university in Colombia. "The thought behind Mab is to restore a sense of wonder in everyday life and to recapture the magic in simple processes."

The robots would run on solar energy trapped in their wings, and when not in use would be housed in the central core, said Zapata.