RoboticsLiDAR SLAMROS 23D Design

Autonomous Floor-Cleaning Robot for Salons and Barbershops

Built for a robotics client in Germany: a commercial floor-cleaning robot designed in 3D from scratch and taken from parts on the bench to a fully assembled prototype that maps, senses and drives itself, in about two months.

~2 months

From 3D design to an assembled prototype

2 phases

Base and drive, then the full body

End to end

Mechanical, electronics and firmware

Germany

Client country

Project Gallery

Autonomous Floor-Cleaning Robot for Salons and Barbershops - Image 1

Autonomous Floor-Cleaning Robot for Salons and Barbershops - Image 2

Client countryGermany

ClientRobotics company, Germany

DeploymentCommercial cleaning, salons and barbershops

TechnologiesLiDAR SLAM · 3D depth sensing · ToF sensors · ROS 2 · Embedded systems · 3D mechanical design

StatusPrototype delivered

The Challenge

Salons and barbershops sweep up cut hair all day. The client is building a robot that keeps the floor clean on its own, and needed an engineering team that could turn its design into a working machine quickly.

It had to be built fast, follow the client's design closely, and be ready for the next stages of development.

The Solution

Phase 1: we designed the robot's base in 3D from scratch, fabricated it, and built the drive, power and sensing system into it: a 360° LiDAR for mapping, a 3D depth camera and multi-zone time-of-flight sensors for what sits below the LiDAR's view, and cliff and bump sensors as the last line of safety, all brought together on ROS 2. It ended with a prototype that maps the room, senses its surroundings and drives under control.

Phase 2: we designed the full robot body in 3D, fabricated it, and assembled the complete robot, fitting and correcting every part. The whole build took about two months, done end to end in-house: 3D design, electronics, firmware, fabrication and assembly.

System Architecture

Step 1Base and driveBase built, with drive, power and sensing integrated.
Step 2Full bodyThe full robot body designed and fabricated.
Step 3Prototype deliveredAn assembled robot that drives and senses its surroundings.

Under the hood

Sensing

360° LiDAR for SLAM mapping and localisation around chairs and stations
3D depth camera to see obstacles in front of the robot
Multi-zone time-of-flight sensors covering the floor below the LiDAR plane
Cliff sensors for mat edges and drops; wheel-drop and bump switches
Side-facing sensor for edge cleaning along chair bases

Compute & software

ROS 2 on an onboard computer: mapping, navigation and path planning
Real-time microcontroller for motor control and sensor polling
micro-ROS bridge between the microcontroller and ROS 2
Sensor fusion of LiDAR, depth and ToF data into one obstacle picture
Autonomous docking to side-mounted charging contacts

Mechanical & power

Base, chassis and full body designed in 3D from scratch
Parts fabricated, fitted and assembled in-house, end to end
Two-wheel differential drive for accurate odometry for SLAM
Wheels and hubs designed to resist hair wrapping
Battery power distribution for drive, suction, compute and sensors

Hard problems we solved

The problemLiDAR can't see what sits below its scan planeHow we solved itHair piles, cords, feet and mat edges sit under the LiDAR's view, so multi-zone ToF sensors, a depth camera and cliff sensors cover that zone and feed the same obstacle map.

The problemHair wraps around wheels and moving partsHow we solved itA two-wheel differential drive leaves fewer places for hair to wrap, and the wheels and hubs were designed with sealed, flush joints and minimal gaps.

The problemBarber chairs and stations crowd the floorHow we solved itLiDAR SLAM maps the shop and plans routes between chair bases; a side sensor follows the bases closely so edges get cleaned too.

The problemGoing from parts to a full robot in about two monthsHow we solved itEvery layer was designed in-house, from 3D design to electronics, firmware and assembly, so changes were made and tested in short cycles with the client's team.