Participate in the Cleanfax Monkeypox Poll – CMM

As recently reported by KATC news in Lafayette, Louisiana, the top of the hometown sports arena and convention centerappropriately named the Cajundomewas getting covered in dirty grime, and something had to be done about it.

How do you clean a dome thats 165-feet high? In the last century, that would have required several human workers and a good deal of risk.

As Pam DeVille, director of the Cajundome, told KATC, You had men that were tethered to the top of the roof going down and actually scrubbing it. There arent many people who would consider that a long-term job.

But now, in the 21st Century, its achieved with drones.

In the case of the Cajundome, Jordy Marks, owner of L.A. Drone Services, came up with the idea of using two drones and an environmentally safe cleaner to low-pressure wash the facilitys dome over a two-day period.

However, using drones to clean hard-to-reach places isnt really that novel of an idea. Cleaning drones have been used for several years on all sorts of applications up in the air.

In 2013, Digitaltrends reported on an Electrolux gizmo that would release into the air hundreds of tiny drones to clean a rooms interior. In 2015, WC3D GmbH, a drone-cleaning company in Germany, developed its prototype drone for cleaning skyscraper windows. Scorpion Drones, a Miami-based distributor of agricultural drones, has been marketing the Lavado dronedesigned to soft wash rooftopssince 2018.

Back in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we here at CMM reported on the use of drones by Lucid Drone Technologies Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina, to disinfect Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Atlanta Falcons NFL games. CNN reported in 2021 on the use of drones to clean up plastic waste worldwide via United Kingdom-based startup Ellipsis Earth. And this year, tech website Mashable highlighted HELIOS, a drone specifically designed to clean solar panels.

According to Lucid Drone Technologies, because high-power washing isnt efficient for the flying operations of drones as well as being potentially harmful to exterior surfaces, they instead use biodegradable chemicals and a softer rinse to do their cleaning. The result is equally as effective and much safernot only for the facilitys surfaces and the environment, but also in terms of manpower. In a similar vein, as drone use drops the risk to workers, it helps keep facility insurance premiums lower as well.

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Participate in the Cleanfax Monkeypox Poll - CMM