Finland-based road maintenance equipment maker Trombia Technologies and facility services company ISS are testing autonomous sweeping technology in a pilot at Helsinki Airport.

The focus of the pilot is to develop ways autonomous street sweepers can support facilities maintenance work in busy closed areas such as parking lots, where cleanliness is key both for the security and the atmosphere.

The commercial pilot programme is using the full-power autonomous and electric Trombia Free street sweeper at the airport.

The aim is to develop ways autonomous street sweepers can support facilities maintenance work in busy traffic and industrial areas. Parking lots especially need special expertise from maintenance, as there are both parked and moving cars, pedestrians, building pillars and narrow parking spaces. As Trombia Free operates without using any water, the pilot will also focus on finding how well it removes dust from the parking lots.

Airports are open basically round the clock and, to fill the needs of the global traveller, all areas from the parking lot to the terminal and to the gate need to fill high service levels safely and this can be a true sweet spot for autonomous maintenance.

“During the pilot we will work in continuous mode, meaning the robot will work in the areas also during the night,” said Antti Nikkanen, CEO of Trombia Technologies.

Trombia Free will operate in the areas around Terminal One and Parking Lot Three starting this month.

“At ISS our purpose is to connect people and places to make the world work better,” said Jukka Backlund, head of facility management at ISS in Finland. “In a better working world, innovations and technology help people to work, live and travel in a safe and comfortable way. That is why ISS Finland is proudly participating in this project with Trombia Technologies. We are constantly looking for new innovations and finding solutions that make life easier, more productive and meaningful for our customers and for our employees. We are frontrunner in sustainable facility management and this pilot also supports our corporate responsibility and environmental targets.”

During the ten-day long pilot, the estimated carbon emissions saved will be around 26kg/h CO₂.

“As we know we need to cut our carbon emissions heavily during the following years, electric sweepers and other service robots can play a big role in revolutionising the environmental impact of maintenance,” said Nikkanen.

The pilot is part of the Muro multi-purpose service robotics as operator busines project, that is run by European research institution VTT and funded by Business Finland.

Trombia Technologies is a Finnish road maintenance equipment manufacturer known for its dust and snow clearing technologies. The parent company Snowek was founded in Kuopio, Finland, in 2011.