ABB Robots and Window and Facade Cleaning

From window cleaners on ledges to robot arms on gondolas and IFA 2026 home robots: where ABB's IRB 1300 and GoFa fit in window and facade cleaning.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/22/20262 min read

Washing windows on tall buildings has always meant hanging off them. Early skyscraper window cleaners in New York worked from narrow ledges with a safety belt clipped to the frame. Roof rigs and gondolas came later, but the job stayed manual, with a squeegee, a bucket and a long way down.

Window cleaner standing on a ledge high above New York skyscrapers
Window cleaner standing on a ledge high above New York skyscrapers

A window cleaner working on a ledge high above New York. Photo: Joseph Murphy / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Building maintenance units, the motorized gondolas that run on a roof track, made the work safer and faster. Crews still clean every pane by hand, though, and weather and staff shortages decide how often a glass tower gets done.

Workers in a building maintenance gondola on the side of an office building in London
Workers in a building maintenance gondola on the side of an office building in London

Crew working from a building maintenance gondola in Victoria, London. Photo: Acabashi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Robots are starting to take the squeegee. Skyline Robotics' Ozmo system mounts an industrial arm with AI vision on a building's existing gondola and cleans glass on Manhattan towers. The arm it uses is a KUKA. The pieces it depends on, a sealed arm, force control and good vision, are all things ABB also builds.

ABB IRB 1300 Foundry Plus 2 robot working in a wet, enclosed cell
ABB IRB 1300 Foundry Plus 2 robot working in a wet, enclosed cell

The ABB IRB 1300 in its Foundry Plus 2 version, sealed for wet and dirty work. Photo: ABB

At home the change is already on sale. At IFA 2026 in Berlin, from September 4 to 8, ECOVACS showed its latest home cleaning robots and previewed 2027 launches, including a GOAT lawnmower and an ULTRAMARINE pool robot. Small window robots that cling to the glass have been shown at IFA for more than a decade.

Small window cleaning robot attached to a glass pane at a trade show in Berlin
Small window cleaning robot attached to a glass pane at a trade show in Berlin

A window-cleaning robot on glass at a trade show in Berlin, 2013. Photo: Lukas Plewnia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

An arm working outdoors on glass has to survive rain and cleaning fluid. ABB's IRB 1300 comes in an IP67 version and a Foundry Plus 2 version built for wet, dirty cells. ABB's GoFa cobot has sensors in every joint, so it can press with a controlled force, which is what wiping glass needs.

ABB GoFa collaborative robot on a work table in an office
ABB GoFa collaborative robot on a work table in an office

ABB's GoFa cobot, which senses force in each joint. Photo: ABB

My guess is that facade cleaning becomes a robot job on big towers first, where one arm on a gondola can save hours of rope work. For homes, a cobot like GoFa is still too big and expensive, but the little window robot on your glass and a future household arm are working toward the same chore.

Woman guiding an ABB GoFa cobot by hand
Woman guiding an ABB GoFa cobot by hand

Guiding a GoFa by hand to teach it a motion. Photo: ABB

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