B+N Referencia Zrt. is the only facility management company in Hungary with a research and development department, which we established at the end of 2016. Currently, there are 11 development engineers and 4 technicians working in this area with the aim of making the cleaning of larger areas – a highly labour-intensive sector – more efficient thorough automation. They are constantly working on ideas and solutions where autonomous technologies can be used to automate work processes.

ROBIN R3000

We started developing our autonomous industrial cleaning robot in 2017, with the first batch deployed in 2019. ROBIN is best suited for efficiently cleaning large contiguous areas (at least 300 square metres), such as airport terminals and hospital corridors. It can cover approximately 1500 square metres in one shift. It independently plans the cleaning path based on a pre-prepared cleaning site map.

Its unique control system helps it avoid unexpected obstacles, notes and returns to missed areas, and automatically records the work done. The first batch was deployed at priority facilities cleaned by the company, including the Róbert Károly körút and Podmainczky utca complexes of the Homeland Defence Hospitals, Groupama Arena, Agora Office and Budapest Airport.

Mobil UVC disinfection device

We started working on the development already in 2019, with the aim of using faster disinfection solutions to protect people and passengers when cleaning vehicles, in addition to manual cleaning based on human labour. The device for UV disinfection of passenger vehicles has been specially designed to be easily installed in the future, for example on trains or trams, and to move between passenger seats, extending its so-called “side wings” to safely sterilise the areas between and under the seats. Although the current version has been optimised for public transport vehicles, our new UV-based disinfection equipment will be suitable for a wide range of applications, including disinfection of public spaces and offices.

Autonomus UV disinfection device

Development project: development of an autonomous UV disinfection robot with artificial intelligence-based obstacle recognition

We started working on the development already in 2019, with the aim of using faster disinfection solutions to protect people and passengers when cleaning vehicles, in addition to manual cleaning based on human labour. The device for UV disinfection of passenger vehicles has been specially designed to be easily installed in the future, for example on trains or trams, and to move between passenger seats, extending its so-called “side wings” to safely sterilise the areas between and under the seats. Although the current version has been optimised for public transport vehicles, our new UV-based disinfection equipment will be suitable for a wide range of applications, including disinfection of public spaces and offices.

On disinfection procedures

Many devices and chemicals have been put on the market during the recent pandemic. Natural sources tend to be sidelined at times like these, although understanding their mechanism of action would make it clear what potential they have. There are several methods for disinfecting surfaces. The most common and widely known is manual disinfection, where the quality and duration of the process depends on the disinfectants used and the skills of the cleaning staff.

Chemical treatment is applied directly on the surfaces, so you have to wait for them to dry after cleaning. Many today are familiar with ozone disinfection too. The advantage of disinfection with gas is that it reaches everywhere, resulting in a uniform quality of disinfection. However, this method is also chemical, requiring complete pre-treatment separation of the air in the area to be managed and significant technological time after treatment before the room can be used again.

Advantages of UV disinfection

Disinfection with UV[1] is a relatively new process and is the most humane tool available. Its advantage over the previous two methods is that it requires a shorter exposure time to achieve the same result, ensures a uniform quality of disinfection and is chemical free. At the end of the treatment, the area can be used immediately and no special preparation is required, although the protection of the operating staff is still necessary in this case. However, since UV light is filtered out by most materials, the effectiveness of the treatment on surfaces that are overlapping or at the wrong angle is minimal. Unmanned UV devices offer a solution to eliminate this, reduce distance and obscuration, and avoid exposure to direct UV light.

Küszöbön az UV-fertőtlenítés robotizációja