▲Dream C&G's Road cleaning robot “Madangsoe”

Established in 2013, Dream C&G (www.dreamcng.com) is Korea's cleaning equipment specialist. In this rapidly aging society, Dream C&G aims to develop and distribute equipment not to replace people but to offer them more convenience. Currently, the venture company has launched three models of their road cleaning robot “Madangsoe” to clean roads, neighborhood parks, apartments, schools, golf courses, and others in an effort to do the dirty work both in and outside of Korea.

Vacuum cleaner robots and window cleaning robots are now common features of everyday life, but road cleaning robots are not as visible. However, the manpower and time required to remove the cigarette butts, flyers, fallen leaves, and sediment from city roads is enormous. During the autumn season, especially, cleaning up the piles of fallen leaves is a challenge – and a headache – to local governments everywhere. This problem is easily solved with the road cleaning robot, Madangsoe. In 2015, Madangsoe won the Gold Prize at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva in Switzerland and the Silver Prize at the Korea Invention Patent Exhibition. This excellent product also received ISO 9001: 2008 quality management system certification and ISO 14001: 2004 environmental management system certification.

With its new suction system and compact design, the road cleaning robot Madangsoe can work on surfaces that are difficult for large cleanup trucks, such as sidewalks, parks, schools, apartments, airports, and much more. With its powerful suction, it can easily pick up cigarette butts, flyers, fallen leaves, and sediment. Also, after weeding, the discards can be easily sent down the drain, as is trash from artificial turf. With a DC motor and iron phosphate battery, it is an environment-friendly product, which allows for a pleasant working environment for pedestrians as well as for the workers who are operating the product.

The Madangsoe comes in 50L or 100L collection capacities, with a similar exterior. It is offered as a general type, and robot type with a remote control, following function.

For the standard type, working on wide areas such as roads, sidewalks, pathways, and parking lots is fast and easy when the worker boards the machine; a stand-up pedestal is designed to be folded so that it can be folded during transport or storage. Designed with a steering wheel and rear-wheel drive, it can rotate at a minimum turning radius (3m 70cm) and can be easily handled by the operator. The front wheel of the cleaner is mounted with technology to allow it to move freely up to 20% of the inclination angle, with an automatic parking function installed so that the machine does not move during the automatic parking function when it stops on a flat surface or incline. The disposal bags can be made of any material such as vinyl, non-woven fabric, or cloth. As well as cleaning the surface of the road, it is also possible for the worker to remove the collected debris. The hose length is 3m and it is effective where traditional cleaners cannot enter, as is cleaning without blind spots. Once inside the machine, the suctioned garbage is separated from the air. The separated air is discharged through the inner filter and the outer filter, and the separated waste is immediately diverted to the bag, which eliminates the need to transfer the waste after clean up. The cleaner is effective when cleaning large areas such as roads, sidewalks, pathways, and parking lots, and can clean 3,000㎡ per hour. Two brushes are installed to clean hard to reach corners and borders.

When working with the hose in the robot type, the robot type has a hose length limit, making it slightly inconvenient to repeatedly move it and clean; the robot follow-up function is combined with continuous operation so that the efficiency is as high as two people working simultaneously. It is equipped with a radar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor and operator follow-up function with distance recognition. In places such as high traffic roads, workers can safely clean the roads by remote control. In the case of cleaning using the robot tracking function, when a pedestrian or some other obstacle appears between the worker and the machine, the ultrasonic sensor is able to recognize it and stops the cleaner, thereby preventing a collision or accident. The safety switch installed at the center of the instrument panel of the cleaner stops all cleaning and running functions when the operator is in danger; in an emergency situation, the operator can effectively use this switch.

This product is currently being sold to local governments and public institutions through the Public Procurement Service in Korea. The company is currently conducting tests in Myanmar, Taiwan and Vietnam and have recently exported $250,000 worth of products to Turkey in an active push to move into overseas markets.