In developing the new building complex, Sumitomo Corporation decided to implement a dust control system. This system consisted of laying carpet in common use areas such as elevators and hallways, removing dirt from shoes, and keeping dust out of office spaces.
So Mr. Inoue asked Mr. Aoyama to come up with a robot that could vacuum dust and dirt that collected on carpeted surfaces.
At the time, the robot project team at Fuji Heavy Industries had been conducting research into making viable robots that could handle carpet cleaning tasks. Their analysis and design related to vacuuming dirt relied on a super-computer—the only super-computer in Japan at the time that had enough processing muscle to perform 3D air flow analysis. At the same time, Sumitomo Corporation offered its expertise in building management and carpet cleaning, helping conduct verification tests in an actual building. These tests ultimately led to a commercially viable robot that could scoop up dirt buried in a carpet surface.
There was one more issue that the system absolutely had to overcome. The robot system had to link with building elevators.
To successfully balance the cost of the system, the system had to be able to clean more than one floor. A minimum of requirement for commercialization was that the robot must be able to use elevators to move freely throughout the building, cleaning the most floor space possible.
It took the strength of a general trading firm to overcome this issue. As it happens, Sumitomo Corporation is a sales agent for Mitsubishi Electric, a company involved in the development of elevators. When the new building complex was being developed, it was decided to incorporate 60 elevators manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric.
"When I went to talk with Mitsubishi electric, we found that we were of the same mind set. They decided to help us with the challenge." (Inoue)
And so, Mitsubishi electric collaborated with the project team, helping develop a system linking robots and elevators.
The number of a work crew at Harumi Triton is seven. At 11:00 p.m., an operator guides them to their starting positions, where they are left to begin their work. The robot cleaning crew operates the building elevators using a mechanism similar to a TV remote control, allowing the units to move to their assigned floors. Directions regarding floors to clean that night are delivered beforehand via a programmed switch. Upon arriving at the designated floor, sensors measure the distance between the robot and the wall, built-in gyros confirm direction, and magnetic tape underneath the carpets serve as guides. The robot will perform cleaning tasks exactly following the path as programmed, continually checking location according to distance traveled. The goal is to clean an entire floor in 20 minutes. Once the work is complete, the unit calls the elevator and moves to the next floor. Once all the floors assigned have been cleaned, the robot unit automatically returns to its original start position.
