“How do drones clean windows?”
When you picture window cleaning, chances are you envision workers suspended by ropes hundreds of feet in the air. Advanced Drone Solutions has replaced that image with something smarter, safer, faster, and more effective: drone cleaning.
So, how does drone cleaning work? Let’s break it down.
1. Site Assessment & Flight Planning
Drone cleaning may look sleek and effortless, but there’s serious groundwork behind each operation. Every job starts with a site evaluation. Our team analyzes your building’s height, shape, surface material, and surrounding conditions. Then, we build a customized plan, accounting for obstacles like balconies, ledges, and nearby trees or power lines. Here’s what happens before we even arrive on site:
- FAA Compliance: We confirm LAANC flight permissions and secure any required FAA authorizations.
- Equipment Charging: Drone batteries, radios, remote controllers, anti-collision lights, everything gets fully charged and prepared.
- Load & Logistics: We load up the truck and trailer with all job-specific gear, from wash kits to flight gear.
- Fluid Checks: Water tanks and cleaning solution tanks are topped up, and the truck is fueled.
- Walkthrough Planning: We review building logistics with the manager: water/power access, restrooms, parking, target areas.
- On-Site Calibration: We evaluate surface grime, building layout, and environmental conditions to create a custom output formula, using a combination of:
- Hot water
- Cold rinse
- Soap or vinegar mixes
- Deionized water for spot-free finishes
- Insurance Confirmed: $1M Auto / GL / Workers Comp + $3M Aviation, fully covered.
- Crew Scheduling: We confirm availability and assignments for every crew member.
- Mission Execution Checklist: A custom checklist is completed for the upcoming operation, tailored to the site and scope.
2. Set Up
Once the site plan is finalized and all flight permissions are secured, our crew arrives on location to set up the drone system.
- Arrival & Parking: Our team arrives on-site, parks our operations truck and wash kit, and begins unloading.
- Safety Setup: Traffic cones, warning signs, and small cordoned-off launch zones are set up to ensure public and property safety.
- Utilities Hookup: We connect our wash kit to the building’s water/electric. If power isn’t available, we use our generator.
- Mission Briefing: Before take-off, our pilot leads a mandatory safety meeting using our Mission Execution Checklist to align the entire crew.
3. Lift Off
With everything in place, it’s time for the drone to do what it does best: clean. Throughout the entire cleaning process, our crew is connected via radio walkie talkies. Our drone pilots maintain communication with their Visual Observer (VO) to maintain safety and efficiency.
- Lift-Off & System Check: Our pilot launches the drone up to ~30 feet and performs a full systems check.
- Anchoring: Next, our pilot flies the drone up to the tallest section of the cleaning area, then travels the full length of that section to drop the anchor for our hose at a safe distance. This tether point is reset for each new cleaning section, depending on the site’s height and layout.
The rest of the cleaning process can vary slightly depending on each job’s requirements, but it typically goes as follows:
- Targeted area is sprayed with soap, vinegar, and/or citrahield mixed with a diluted solution.
- Our pilot then calls for regular water and directs the drone in reverse back to its start, rinsing the area.
- Then, the drone is switched over to deionized water, where it sprays the targeted area with a final spot-free rinse.
- This method is conducted and repeated until the project is complete.
“How do you clean lower-level windows and facades that are obstructed by trees?”
Our crew uses a 50ft water fed brush that allows us to agitate windows and rinse them with deionized water. This process is conducted on the lower portions of the targeted areas in order to maximize efficiency, the pilot sets up the next section while crew members clean lower section of targeted areas
5. Post-Cleaning Wrap-Up & Recommendations
Once the cleaning is complete, our pilot safely lands the drone and our crew begins equipment breakdown and site cleanup. We make sure your property is left exactly as we found it, just much cleaner.
- All necessary liquids are reclaimed and delivered to our partner, Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, for eco-friendly treatment and reuse.
