Special insert for Winbot X
16.5.2019
Translation: machine translated
Window cleaning robots have so far been outsiders among automated household helpers. No wonder, because they need a lot of care and very special challenges. I had one for the "Winbot X" from Ecovacs.
A pulverised tibia, several operations and months of rehab. My mum's first and only attempt to clean the glass roof over the balcony herself ended in hospital. She is fine now, but the roof is still dirty. As cleaning companies charge dearly for their specialised services, I have been wondering for some time whether a window cleaning robot could be the solution. I realise that you can't expect miracles from these things yet, but a little more visibility at a reasonable cost would be something. I'm focussing on the "Winbot X" from Ecovacs because it doesn't need an external power supply and lasts up to 50 minutes. That could fit the bill.
I think domestic robots are great. In my house, the iRobots are on the move, there's a Roomba vacuuming and a Braava mopping. I willingly empty bins, change cloths, fiddle hair out of the rollers and get spare parts - all for the good feeling that I can leave the house and it's cleaner when I get back. This aspect is missing with the Winbot X. It needs attention every few minutes when it vacuums up to a window and starts mopping. Nevertheless, I am quite curious about the device when I open the packaging. Is this the future?
With a cord, without a false bottom
I initially find the safety bracket more exciting than the robot itself, without which nothing works anyway. The part combines a large suction cup with a vacuum sensor. It is connected to the robot via a two-and-a-half metre long safety cable, switched on and pressed against the window pane at a clean spot at a height of at least 1.6 metres. The sensor ensures that the robot can be held if it takes off.
If the negative pressure in the holder becomes too low to prevent a fall, the safety device stops the Winbot and beeps for help. At least in theory. I wouldn't want to experience that in practice. Especially not on the glass roof at a height of around ten metres. To build up confidence, I want to test the clean rope team on safe terrain first. On the balcony door and windows.
Little cloth, lots of technology
I prepare the Winbot for its first use and attach one of the four cleaning cloths supplied to the underside. It leaves the corners free, as this is where the edge detection sensors are located. And in the centre is a large square recess for the drive rollers, blower and squeegee. All in all, quite a small amount of fabric and quite a lot of technology.
I am sceptical that the windscreen can be cleaned properly, but I follow the manufacturer's recommendation: eight sprays of the cleaning agent supplied should be enough (other cleaners are the devil's work and could invalidate the warranty). I then clean the underside of the device with a dry cloth as instructed and wonder why I didn't simply spray the cleaning cloth before attaching it.
But good, strictly according to the instructions. Don't ask what your robot can do for you. Ask what you can do for your robot. So I also clean a small section of the balcony door by hand, where I then press the switched-on safety hold until it gives the green light.
Off to deep cleaning mode
Everything ready for the Winbot. Switch on, get started and marvel. I shouldn't really be surprised that a high-priced window cleaning robot can at least safely suck itself onto the pane. But I'm still fascinated. While it sets off at the touch of a button, checks the dimensions of the window pane on the frame and then completes its first few passes, I watch and try out the remote control.
The Winbot can be started and stopped with it, manoeuvred using the arrow keys and you can activate the "deep cleaning mode". Instead of just one N or Z pattern, it then runs through both variants. Even after that, I'm not standing in front of a perfectly cleaned balcony door. There are still a few streaks and stains to be seen as it beeps and demands to be cleaned.
I give it a few more windows and want to delve into the instructions, but don't really get round to it. It's hardly any different than with children. The Winbot makes quite a lot of noise (74 dB) and just when you think "at least it's busy", it calls out to you again. As you would expect, the benefits in a normal-sized flat with normal-sized windows are minimal, but my safety concerns have been dispelled. The thing holds and is ready for special use on the roof.
The Winbot X likes:
- framed and frameless glass surfaces, the bigger the better
- No frames or thresholds of less than 5 millimetres. It drives onto them, stops and starts beeping helplessly
- Don't work completely upside down, but inclined glass surfaces are okay (I'm going to max that out)
- No marathon missions, after 50 minutes of work it has to charge for two and a half hours
- no humidity above 65 per cent and no wind
- No moisture on its rubber rollers, otherwise it will spin out (happens faster than expected)
- lots of attention, if in doubt he will call for you
Emergency on the glass roof
Maybe I promised too much. No, don't hire a cleaning company. Let the robot have a go. Two points make me a little disheartened as I stand under the glass roof. Firstly, it's dirtier than I remembered. Secondly, it's even harder to reach.
I could just about push the Winbot onto the roof if I stood on my tiptoes. Or abseil down from the roof window. But what if it gets nasty and doesn't want to go any further? Then I'd have to pull the safety line with brute force to get him down again. To start with, I'll tackle the underside of the roof, which is less dirty and easy to reach at its lowest point.
Acrobatic? It can.
The Winbot sits on it not quite upside down, but almost. I'm not entirely comfortable with it and I stand underneath ready to catch it as I send it on a cleaning tour. After all, it weighs 2.9 kilos and would swing freely through the air if it crashed. It would probably breathe its last on the balcony wall or be flung into the garden in a high arc, safety bracket or not.
But my worries are unfounded. The Winbot does pretty well in this discipline and the dusty glass becomes visibly cleaner when I send it over the dirtiest areas several times with the remote control. However, this doesn't provide much more visibility as long as I don't venture to the top of the roof. That's where the stubborn dirt is.
Does a Winbot come flying?
In order not to have to rely solely on the lifeline, I also secure the Winbot with a climbing rope. Depending on where it gets stranded, I can either rescue it through the skylight or from the balcony. In the meantime, it's quite a lot of effort for a little more visibility, but now I want to go through with it. Up with the Winbot X.
The robot runs its programme unimpressed, but doesn't stand a chance against the winter's dirt, which the sun has burnt in before the next winter arrives. I say goodbye to the hope of an all-over wow effect and start to work more intensively on individual areas. Then I have to realise that this is probably not going to work. Slightly disappointed, I rescue the Winbot from the roof. No, it's not (yet) made for this kind of job.
Conclusion: I'm waiting for the Winbot XXX
I've rarely been so clueless about a product. Somehow I want to like the Winbot X, but it doesn't make sense to me. On the one hand, it's a high-quality appliance that holds bombproof and makes dusty windows much cleaner. On the other hand, easy-to-reach windows are much easier and better to clean by hand. Hard-to-reach windows, on the other hand, are usually far too dirty for the Winbot X to have a chance. What's more, I didn't take any fewer risks when handling the Winbot than my mum did in her old-school cleaning accident.
If you want to rely on a window cleaning robot today, you need very special windows that you don't let get too dirty from the outset. And a very special relationship with robots. I like to watch them at work and secretly enjoy the fact that they are not yet perfect. That they just miss the mark ten times or stick to the smudged window, beeping helplessly. Somehow human. But that will pass. It's only a matter of time before the drone version of the Winbot XXX with its built-in high-pressure cleaner sprays the dirt off the roof and then polishes it to a high shine. I'm going to buy that, it will really save work.
Happiness is fleeting, so I keep moving. On the bike, on the ball (size and color do not matter) and in everything that comes from the imagination of two children. I love to live out my play instinct and give coincidences a chance.
