A Window Washing Drone Is Here. Because Of Course It Is

Probably not way up there on the urgency scale, but then neither was the iPod. JL

Joseph Archer reports in The Telegraph:

A drone that can wash the windows of skyscrapers and extinguish fires will be (available) next year. Equipped with 14 propeller blades, the drone can wash tall buildings using high pressure water hoses that extend from its frame. It is tethered to the ground with a hose that supplies water and electricity. Drone operators can monitor and film what the drone is doing using high definition cameras. (Its inventor) claims it is 20 times quicker than human window cleaners using conventional baskets and lifts.
A drone that can wash the windows of skyscrapers and extinguish fires will be in the UK next year after its makers received interest from customers following the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Equipped with 14 propeller blades, the drone can wash tall buildings by using high pressure water hoses that extend from its square frame.
It weighs around 90kg and is tethered to the ground with a hose that supplies the water and electricity for cleaning. The large drone can also be attached with ropes from the roof of the buildings it is washing, in order to prevent it from falling to the ground.
Drone operators can monitor and film what the drone is doing using high definition cameras.
The aircraft was created by Aerones, a San Francisco-based company founded by two Latvians, Dainis Kruze and Janis Putrams, in 2015.
Aerones claims it is 20 times quicker at cleaning buildings than human window cleaners using conventional baskets and lifts to conduct work.
It also states it could be used to put out fires in tall buildings, aiding firefighters that find it difficult to reach the upper floors of skyscrapers.  
The drone can also be used to clean, paint and de-ice wind turbines, a process that is extremely difficult for humans.

In Canada and Northern Europe the blades of wind turbines can get covered in ice, reducing the power they generate. Before drones, this required people in helicopters to physically remove the ice. 

The company, which also has offices in Latvia’s capital Riga, is mainly focused on building heavy lifting drones that can lift up to 200kg. They claim to have drones that can run on batteries for “rescue and delivery purposes” and tethered drones or industrial cleaning and firefighting.
A spokesperson from the company said there was interest from London partners in the drones firefighting capabilities following large fires in the capital.
The spokesperson said: “We have a lot of calls from the UK about using the drones for firefighting rather than just washing buildings. We had loads of calls following the story of the big Grenfell fire in London with groups inquiring whether the drones could be used to stop that.
“But currently we told them we are unable to do this kind of thing in the UK at the moment.”