Should have looked further. Just after I posted yesterday on innovations in window cleaning, and speculated on some sort of robots designed for high-rise buildings, I found in my in-box my daily feed from Building Service Contractors Association International (CBN has been a member since 1985).. Included was an article on exactly that.
It seems that a couple of innovative firms (both Israeli, go figure) have systems up and running. One places a robot on (essentially) an existing platform; the other has a light weight device, suspended by a rope, "climbing" down the building using suction cups. The latter uses no water; it simply cleans the glass mechanically. Neat advantages are cameras and other sensors that look for cracks, gaps and so on.
Mentioned in passing is that high-rise window washers are hard to come by. The work force is ageing, and few new folks enter the trade. Thus there is a certain impetus to supplanting people, over and above cost and liability. One sees the same dynamic in, among other fields, long haul trucking (driverless rigs look to replace the current inventory at least as soon as a given rig ages out); McDonalds is said to be testing an automated restaurant somewhere in Texas. We're soon to see lots of folks out of work, with no work available given their current education or skill set.
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