Autonomous Street Sweepers Take to China’s Streets

The Chinese city of Shenzhen has turned to a clever solution to keep one of its foremost attractions tidy – autonomous street sweepers.

The city, in the southeast of the country in Guangdong province just north of Hong Kong, has gained a reputation as being one of the foremost proponents of automated transport, after introducing an extensive regulatory framework last year.

But it is Shenzhen’s Xiangmi Park (or Citizen Park), a renowned beauty spot, rather than its roads, that is currently playing host to a fleet of particularly innovative vehicles.

Hong Kong-based tech company Taoping’s automated road sweepers have been entrusted with the task of clearing away the sizable volumes of trash generated by the high volume of daily visitors who make use of the facilities at the 507099 square yard park.

As a video released by Taoping shows, the electric street sweeper incorporates collision avoidance tech, human detection and advanced route guidance as it goes about keeping the park clean.

In addition to the ability to guide itself, the Taoping sweeper also provides several “intelligent” features including garbage sorting, multi-functional cleaning and overflow detection. It is hoped the sweepers’ deployment will help reduce the sizable cost of keeping the park free of trash.

Even more clever is the sweepers’ ability to be charged at what Taoping describes as a “smart rest station,” essentially a covered facility that doubles up as a convenient stop for visitors where they can charge their devices, buy food and drink from vending machines and more. This eliminates the need for expensive, bespoke charging solutions for the sweepers.

“We thank the Shenzhen park authorities for their confidence in Taoping and our next-generation solution,” said Lin Jianghuai, chairman and CEO of Taoping. “We are very excited to be in this high profile, high traffic location, which showcases our innovative solution and will allow others to see first-hand how effective it is and how we can help directly solve high-cost pain points associated with cleaning and labor. Park visitors want stress-free, clean greenspace, which our solution helps provide while improving many other aspects of the overall experience.

“We see this as the latest step in what will be a multi-year growth journey. We already have relationships with more than 200 cities in our alliance network, which we are sharing detailed information on the benefits of our new solution with.”

Automated cleaning solutions are gaining traction in China. Last year, WeRide introduced a fleet of Robosweepers to the streets of Guangzhou, also in Guangdong province, in a partnership with commercial vehicle maker Yutong Group.