What a vacuum robot has long since done at home,hyCLEANER brings to large-scale photovoltaic systems on the roof or outdoors with the solarROBOT pro: The semi-automated cleaning machine reliably removes dirt from solar panels, thus promoting the energy yield and longevity of the systems. Ultrasonic sensor technology from Pepperl+Fuchs plays a decisive role in terms of safety.

"Working on slippery glass surfaces with certain angles of inclination or on high roofs simply always involves a certain risk for humans," clarifies Kneiber. "With our cleaning robot, the human remains in a safe environment while the solarROBOT pro does the work." The solarROBOT pro can be operated via a radio remote control. The auto-drive function with cruise control and lane-keeping assistant makes this particularly convenient - the robot automatically drives over the surface without the operator having to control it continuously. But to also prevent the machine itself from falling off an edge, thus avoiding accidents and damage, hyCLEANER has equipped the cleaning robot with the particularly compact and precise F77 series ultrasonic sensors from Pepperl+Fuchs. "An ultrasonic sensor is installed at each of the four corners of the solarROBOT, which looks down and always detects the area of the solar panels," explains Jan Schirweit, sales engineer at Pepperl+Fuchs. "If one of the sensors detects that there is no longer an object in its detection range, i.e. the surface ends, the machine stops automatically and gives the operating personnel an acoustic signal." The operator then has the option of overriding the automatic stop and allowing the robot to continue moving, for example if there is only a gap, or to have it turn around.