Climate protection and sustainability are more than just a trend. They are increasingly a social mindset. They all find their common denominator in the term neo-ecology. But what is this development all about? In our focus on Sealand Cleaning Machine series with eco-friendly design, you’ll find out everything you need to know about it.

(Collected and written by Fiona Gin, the associate editor of China Biz Group)

Modern technologies around eco-design, automation, and clean materials, support us in our work, make processes leaner and simplify our everyday lives – but can they also contribute to greater sustainability?

Fewer greenhouse gas emissions, more energy from renewable sources and greater energy efficiency: the China wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030. The Chinese government has also adopted measures to achieve these climate protection targets in 2030. But to do so, China must save 1262 million tons of CO2 per year.  According to digital association CNNEOECO, eco-design can also help: According to this, eco-design can realize up to 58% of these savings. The greatest potential lies in the areas of industrial manufacturing, mobility, energy and production. Cleaning robotics is going to get more and more prom inent, and as with every other technology and industry, it has to consider the environmental impact. There is a need for cleaning robots with self-sufficient energy without less power and water consumption, as well as less CO2 emissions.

In this way, Sealand has integrated ceo-design to strengthen the carbon neutrality in its Cleaning Machine series, in terms of, (1) Smart intralogistics to avoid empty runs, optimize cleaning routes and guarantee higher utilization of production equipment with a lower amount of power consumption, (2) Virtual images of production and operating cycles, so-called digital twins, make it possible for processes to be tested first on the digital object instead of the real thing. Even after the cleaning machine has been commissioned at the customer’s site, the virtual model is available in parallel with the real production facility for remote investigations - thus saving massive amounts of material, energy and resources, (3) Eco-friendly cleaning machines can automatically regulate and thus optimize water consumption, power consumption, or cleaning brush power, depending on the level of wastes on the floor, (4) The coronavirus pandemic has given a massive boost to the disinfection and sterilization, with related block installed in the Sealand cleaning machines, (5) New materials with less emissions and toxicity, also with lighter weights and smaller size.

More efficient and resource-saving thanks to Sealand’s new technologies

But it is not only eco-design that makes it easier to live, produce and act more sustainably; modern technologies such as PID controller design also contribute to a better energy saving on any of the industrial robotic machines: PID controller improves controllable communication between components and fixed industrial machines. The power required for the controller is reduced, which has a positive effect on battery life of the industrial machine. Sealand uses such a PID control technology from in the featured cleaning machines. In doing so, Sealand has set up a long-term development roadmap that will enable it to take advantage of the new possibilities offered by future versions for control and automation solutions. To further reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the cleaning machine, Sealand is also working on converting tomorrow’s production. The so-called EcoDesign System, a flexible matrix solution that is already being used by industrial cleaning suppliers, among other things, is being converted from conventional linear controller to dynamic eco-friendly controller.

Tomorrow’s cleaning robotics are more environmentally friendly and energy-saving

Sustainable and energy-efficient robots and system solutions are also an important aspect at Sealand. For example, the new generation of the Sabretooth – a best-selling cleaning robot from Sealand – consumes around 45% less energy than the previous generation. In addition, Sealand cleaning robots are almost completely recyclable after their long life cycle, since they are made of 90% eco-friendly metal. The remaining materials of the cleaning robot system can also be recycled to a high degree.

And Sealand is also working with customers on sustainable applications. One example: baseplate and shell made of degradable plastics, printed by a Sealand robot using the 3D printer. In this process, all the shaped elements that the customer wants are modeled in advance using 3D software. The additive manufacturing process avoids waste and delivers customized solutions or even entire series in just a few hours. The liquid material plastics is converted 1:1 into the end product, so no waste is generated in this process. CO2 emissions are also reduced through the use of cleaning robots, as the cleaning robot can print the desired precast plastic part directly at the composition site and it does not have to be transported separately.

All these examples are just a glimpse of the seemingly endless possibilities offered by new technologies from Sealand. But this development shows: Eco-design, robotics and new materials can not only make our lives and work easier, but also support us on the path to a more sustainable future for carbon neutrality.