The advent of robotics in car wash equipments
A robot is defined as a mechanical device that is meant to do the work of a human being. In fact it can work harder than a human being since it is activated by sound waves and radiant energy. Robots play an important role in all types of cleaning, moving, lifting and various other jobs. They have also entered the car washing industry to bring out perfectly and effectively cleaned cars.
In this car wash equipment process performed by the robots, it uses a feed back loop by which information is transmitted from the carwash equipments that are fixed at various points where the vehicles is shifted to and from while being cleaned. With the help of these transmitting sources mechanical energy gets converted to electrical energy in a process called transducers.
These transducers play a very important role in the robotics method of Car Wash Systems. Vehicles of varying height and length can be cleaned by this method. The robot is programmed to clean each vehicle according to its size. This method is adopted to improve the chemical consumption and the quality of the way along with other functions as well.
The roller arm is a device used to sense all carwash equipment from the brush arm movement to the overhead door position. In this way the car gets completely clean leaving no part out including the windshield and the door jams etc.
The modern transducer does its work without physical contact with the vehicle. Instead the loop detector is used to sense the vehicle’s presence while cleaning. They are fitted with a photo-eye that sends signals to the PLC. The signal strength can be adjusted. It should be fixed properly by applying tape to the receiver eye lens leaving a small area in the middle uncovered.
The next robotic in car wash equipment Installation is the proximity switch. It is the metal detector in car washes. It is able to sense metal like the loop detector but only with a finer accuracy. Since this is a sensing unit care should be taken when adjusting or replacing the proximity switch. Care should be taken to set the right distance between the sensing end of switch and the target. It should be perfect to the manufacturer’s specification.
Ultrasonic sensors are another carwash transducer. This refers to the sound wave frequency that is above the normal hearing range of a human being. Physical therapy, welding plants and distance measuring equipments use ultrasonic sensors to do their work.
The ultra sonic sensor that is applied in car washing transmits sound waves that reflect off the surface of an object and then come back to the source or to the paired receiver. The distance is then calculated by the time spent between the sending and receiving of the sound waves.
In this technology the brush and the touch less automatic equipments benefit by the ultrasonic car wash robotic equipment. In this way the chemical consumption and the water consumption are reduced when the spray arm is used for cleaning the side of the vehicle.
With ultrasonic sensors vehicle drivers can be instructed to steer their vehicle either to the left or right. In the case of tall vehicles the upper brush halves are engaged to perform rear arm oscillation. These and many more functions are available with ultra sonic sensors. In short, they are very important in robotic car washing.
Now coming to the future one may begin to think what type of robotic technology one might see. It could be just anything like human like figures walking stiffly all around doing more work than a human being. The car industry has faced this challenging robotics in their industry and has increased their profitability. But at the same time it’s hard to find low cost labor that is high in quality. Customers should be treated with utmost care and attention or one would lose good customers.
Though washing may seem a bit simple drying a car used to be a bit difficult. But this is not anymore with the introduction of the robotics in car washing. Surely during the winter months cars get crusted with snow and salt from icy roads. The robotics need to be trusted during these times. They would complete the work instantly and impressively. If a car is parked between to points and a robot is put to use it would dry the car perfectly well without pressing down on the vehicle by using the Haptic Sensor technology.
About the Author
been in the car wash equipment business for the last 15 years
Quicksilver Touchless Carwash System