April 23, 2013

Students’ lofty goal is clear




Team from Rice University and Tunisia is engineering robot to wash high-rise windows

As long as buildings have windows, engineers will fret about how best to keep them clean. Rice University engineering students are no exception and are working on better ways to keep skyscrapers shiny.

The WashBOT team of seniors based at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen is part of a multiyear robotics project to automate the process of cleaning recessed windows in buildings that present problems for more traditional washers, both human and machine.