Scientists from the National Robotarium, supported by Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities, have revealed the design of a new train cleaning robot to aid with carriage cleaning.

Over the last two years, the Robotarium has been working on the most appropriate design and operating system for the robot to help existing cleaners with their work.

The machine is designed to increase cleanliness standards on trains nationwide by cleaning in the hard-to-reach places between and under seats.

More than 58,300 studio images of waste in a variety of conditions have been used by the National Robotarium team to help the cleaning robot to identify waste more accurately.

Additionally, several smaller datasets of actual waste photographed on trains, taken from the perspective of a cleaning robot, were used.

The studio images were designed to provide as much data as possible about the features of each waste item, so each unique item was photographed at many different angles. Waste items that can deform, such as newspapers or coffee cups, were represented in different states.

In interviews with rail service providers, the team also obtained information regarding operating conditions to help guide the design of the robot.

The narrow under-seat area, which collects the most waste items, is extremely limited, especially on older trains, making waste collection challenging both for humans and robots. Some spaces were measured at just 28cm tall, with entry points as small as 31cm.

Dr Mustafa Suphi Erden from the National Robotarium, explained: “Our research uses robotics and AI to help people to solve a wide range of challenges. With the daily pressure on rail services, it’s essential that trains are cleaned as fast and as efficiently as possible.

“However, at present, this process is done entirely by hand requiring a significant amount of time for the cleaning personnel to collect each waste item one-by-one from under and in-between the seats.

“Reaching underneath seats repeatedly over a long shift can lead to health problems. Also, cleaning staff regularly encounter hazardous and biological waste which poses a significant risk.”

The cleanliness of carriages is an important part of train maintenance and has been under increasing scrutiny since the pandemic began to maintain public confidence in rail travel.

Across the UK, 182 million rail journeys were made in 2021-22 Q1 on national rail services despite ongoing restrictions. However, research into passenger attitudes revealed that travellers want a higher standard of cleanliness.

Suphi Erden continued: “We’ve worked closely with rail operators to design a robot that can complement existing cleaning regimes, aiding human cleaners to deliver an ongoing service and freeing them up to focus other hygiene tasks including disinfecting surfaces like tables, cleaning the seats, and removing dirt, fluid and food waste.

“As well as being important for health, cleaning can also prevent train delays with discarded newspapers identified as a reason why train doors can fail to close.”

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The research team said it will now focus on the production of a flexible navigation tool to guide the robot, and a waste detection algorithm.

Research was supported by funding from RSSB with input from the Greater Anglia train presentation staff at London Liverpool Street station and the West Midlands train presentation staff at Euston station.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart added: “The pandemic has shown the importance of regular, thorough cleaning on board public transport.

“I am excited that these new robots could help make cleaning both quick and affordable, and so improve the wellbeing of travellers and staff.

“The UK Government is investing £21 million in the National Robotarium to support its cutting-edge research into innovative solutions like this.”

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