Abstract In desert zones, a continuous cleaning activity of photovoltaic panels in solar plants is required since the deposition of both airborne dust and sand after a storm can reduce their efficiency up to 80%. Manual cleaning of the photovoltaic panels in dry areas is costly, cannot make use of water and workers must be employed several times in a month, often under extreme environmental conditions. For all these reasons, the research of cleaning solutions performed by autonomous robotic systems are seen beneficial to recover the solar panels efficiency at reasonable costs also nightly. In this respect, this paper presents the implementation of an unmanned low-cost robotic device operating without rails or guides for waterless dust and sand removal from the surface of photovoltaic panels. The robot autonomously moves as a half-track and gently wipes the dust away by means of a couple of independent helical brushes that alternatively rotate, according to a defined combination of the cleaning and motion strategy. Moreover, in real-time the robot detects its spatial position by ultrasonic sensors, regulates both its speed rate and motion direction. The on-board control system, based on an ARDUINO DUE platform, settles the robot travel direction, its speed and which brush must be activated for cleaning. Experimental tests have been performed by fabricating a prototype of the device to assess its effectiveness and reliability in terms of the autonomous motion, dust removal and low power consumption.

中文翻译：

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用于清洁沙漠地区光伏板的自主机器人

摘要 在沙漠地区，需要对太阳能发电厂中的光伏电池板进行持续清洁活动，因为风暴后空气中的灰尘和沙子的沉积会使它们的效率降低高达 80%。在干燥地区手动清洁光伏板成本高昂，不能用水，而且工人必须在一个月内雇用数次，而且通常在极端环境条件下。由于所有这些原因，由自主机器人系统执行的清洁解决方案的研究被认为有助于以合理的成本每晚恢复太阳能电池板的效率。在这方面，本文介绍了一种无人驾驶的低成本机器人设备的实现，该设备无需导轨或导轨即可从光伏面板表面无水除尘和除沙。根据清洁和运动策略的定义组合，机器人作为半轨道自主移动，并通过一对交替旋转的独立螺旋刷轻轻擦去灰尘。此外，机器人通过超声波传感器实时检测其空间位置，调节其速度和运动方向。车载控制系统基于 ARDUINO DUE 平台，确定机器人的行进方向、速度以及必须激活哪个刷子进行清洁。通过制造设备原型进行了实验测试，以评估其在自主运动、除尘和低功耗方面的有效性和可靠性。根据清洁和运动策略的定义组合。此外，机器人通过超声波传感器实时检测其空间位置，调节其速度和运动方向。车载控制系统基于 ARDUINO DUE 平台，确定机器人的行进方向、速度以及必须激活哪个刷子进行清洁。通过制造该设备的原型进行了实验测试，以评估其在自主运动、除尘和低功耗方面的有效性和可靠性。根据清洁和运动策略的定义组合。此外，机器人通过超声波传感器实时检测其空间位置，调节其速度和运动方向。车载控制系统基于 ARDUINO DUE 平台，确定机器人的行进方向、速度以及必须激活哪个刷子进行清洁。通过制造该设备的原型进行了实验测试，以评估其在自主运动、除尘和低功耗方面的有效性和可靠性。它的速度以及必须激活哪个刷子才能进行清洁。通过制造该设备的原型进行了实验测试，以评估其在自主运动、除尘和低功耗方面的有效性和可靠性。它的速度以及必须激活哪个刷子才能进行清洁。通过制造该设备的原型进行了实验测试，以评估其在自主运动、除尘和低功耗方面的有效性和可靠性。