Journal of Physics:

Conference Series

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS You may also like

- Research and Design of Small Semi-
Development and Research Status of Road Automated Beach-Lawn Cleaning Vehicle
by Optimizing the Vibrating Screen Module
Cleaning Vehicle Yujiang Chen and Shuyuan Sun

- Study of Chemical-Physical Cleaning

Technologies for Better Particle Removal
To cite this article: Heqing Xu et al 2020 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1626 012153 Trapped on the Crystal Defects of 4H-SiC
Geu-Rim Ha, Yoon-Ji Ra, Yeonje Gye et
al.

- Structural Elements, Synergy Mechanism

and System Optimization of Atmospheric
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Environmental Self-cleaning Capability
Jingkun Zhou and Yating Li

This content was downloaded from IP address 196.188.136.49 on 23/01/2025 at 07:15

International Conference on Electrical Automation and Mechanical Engineering IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1626 (2020) 012153 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1626/1/012153

Development and Research Status of Road Cleaning Vehicle

Heqing Xu, Jixue Xiao* and Yu Feng

School of Mechanical Engineering, Xihua University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province,
China

*Corresponding author email: xjxg_163_com@163.com

Abstract. Road cleaning vehicle is efficient cleaning equipment. It integrates road cleaning,
garbage recycling and removing. This paper introduces the research background of road
cleaning vehicles briefly. Then it summarizes the representative products of road cleaning
vehicles, and analyzes the current status of technology development. At present, the
multifunctional cleaning car on the market has the functions of suction and sweeping
combination, no need to spray water, dust suppression, full filtration, purification and emission.
Some companies even integrate advanced technologies such as automatic driving and intelligent
identification. Finally, it predicts that the road cleaning vehicle will be developed in intelligence
and environmental protection.
Keywords: Sweeper; Road cleaning vehicle; Horse-drawn cleaning vehicle; Self-driving
cleaning vehicle; Development; Intelligence; Environmental protection.

1. Introduction
In recent years, people have higher and higher requirements for the road environment. Traditionally,
road cleaning and maintenance only mean removing ground garbage and preventing dust by the
cooperation of cleaning personnel and mechanical garbage trucks. However, this method is often
difficult to effectively prevent inhalable particles entering into air, which poses a serious threat to the
environment and people's health [2]. In addition, traffic is developing rapidly, and daily cleaning tasks
are becoming more and more arduous. In order to ensure driving safety and improve the efficiency of
man-machine cleaning operations, road cleaning vehicles came into being [3].
So far, people are no longer satisfied that road cleaning vehicles only perform single cleaning task. Road
cleaning vehicle is more a collection of cleaning, mopping, and vacuuming. It also incorporates many
advanced technologies such as mechatronics, sensors, computer, control, communication, etc.. It can
replace the cleaning staff to perform regular maintenance of road cleaning on some highways,
underground tunnels and other dangerous pavements [4,5]. In addition, with the development of
artificial intelligence, people have even proposed a smart cleaning vehicle that can achieve self-driving
cleaning, intelligently recognize traffic lights, and autonomously overcome obstacles [6].
This article summarizes the development status of road cleaning vehicles, and analyzes the existing
problems, and looks forward to the development trend of road cleaning vehicles.

2. Development History
The development history of road cleaning vehicles can be traced back to 1904. Counting from the
invention of the first horse-drawn cleaning vehicle in Britain, the development history of cleaning
vehicles has been over 100 years [7]. By the 1920s, large and medium-sized cleaning vehicles had been
sold in markets. In 1925, tractor-type cleaning vehicles appeared on the streets of Denver. From this

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
International Conference on Electrical Automation and Mechanical Engineering IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1626 (2020) 012153 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1626/1/012153

tractor, modern road sweepers entered a new era of rapid development. By the 1960s, the mass
production of road cleaning vehicles had formed in markets.
With the advancement of robots, sensors, and control technologies, the level of mechatronics of clean
vehicles continued to increase, and the research on control methods of smart clean vehicles has also
made great progress [8]. Taking the sweeping truck of American ELGIN company as an example, its
intelligent control performance is reliable, easy to operate, and has as many as 57 function designs. It
uses a variety of sensors to intelligently identify various complex roads and avoid obstacles. It is the
result of the technical innovation of mechanical cleaning vehicles.
In China, people began to research road cleaning vehicles in the 1960s. The vehicles development
history can be divided into three stages [11]. In the first stage, the pure sweeper was successfully
developed from the 1960s to the end of the 1980s. As the first generation of sweepers in China, it opened
the curtain of independent research and development of road cleaning vehicles. The second stage is from
the 1980s to the end of the 1990s. Sweepers was developed rapidly during the stage. The sweepers were
used in large, medium, and small cities, and were not limited to urban roads. They were also used for
Highways and expressways. The development has entered into the third stage since 2000. During the
stage, the road cleaning vehicle market begun to diversify, with many different cleaning principles and
modes of cleaning equipment. With the increase of people's awareness of water conservation and
environmental protection, people designed a series of dry dust removal road sweepers without water
spraying and dust suppression. The sweeper is a cleaning truck that integrates cleaning, sweeping and
sewage recovery. In addition, with the development of machine vision and sensors technologies, people
have began to develop self-driving clean vehicle and they are carrying out the vehicle experiments [6].

3. Representative Products on the Market

Shown in Figure 1 is a VT series cleaning vehicle produced by Johnston, UK [16]. The VT series is the
most reliable and durable vehicle-mounted road sweeper in the Johnston product line. It has automatic
fault diagnosis and USB output for work records. It can also use a filter and a special air vortex to
cooperate with the spray system to control dust.

Figure 1. Johnston VT801 road vacuum sweeper

A new type of driving sweeper Ronda was specially designed by Italian RCM company for urban road
cleaning [27]. The cleaning vehicle has three powerful brush heads, which can sweep a total of 3,400
meters of straight line trash every hour.
ICC small sweeper is produced by Karcher Germany [9]. The machine is fully hydraulically driven with
stepless speed regulation. The dumping of the trash can be completed by hydraulic operation, which
prevents the operator from directly contacting the dirt and garbage.
Road treasure cleaning equipment was developed by Italy [17]. The machine can be equipped with a
front snowboard or a roller brush for snow removal operations, or the side brush or middle brush can be
used to directly collect relatively thin snow into the trash bin.
Omnia32B floor scrubber is produced by Comac Group, Italy [18]. The powerful functions and high
efficiency performance of the 36-volt battery ensure long-term cleaning on various floors.
Italy's TSM company launched the first urban waste cleaning vacuum cleaner Ariamatic240 equipped
with a system [19]. The car can automatically follow the operator's steps without separation.

2
International Conference on Electrical Automation and Mechanical Engineering IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1626 (2020) 012153 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1626/1/012153

In China, YZT5075TSLBE4 road sweeper was developed by Yangzhou Shengda Special Vehicle Co.,
Ltd. [22]. In terms of environmental protection and energy saving, this product has the characteristics of
green, energy saving, and low pollution. It uses natural gas fuel and is recognized as the "guardian of
environmental protection" in the industry. LTZ5162GQX5DF cleaning truck is produced by Henan
Lutai Road Maintenance Machinery Co., Ltd. [23]. It is widely used for watering, spraying, cooling,
dust removal and washing dust on various roads. BAQ5130TSL, BAQ4000 sweeper is manufactured by
Beijing Aiqing sweeper manufacturing company [12]. The product adopts the cleaning device of
American ELGIN company. It has the remarkable characteristics of high efficiency and reliable
performance. Ruiqing S22 pure electric road sweeper was developed by Anhui Airit New Energy
Special Purpose Vehicle Co., Ltd. [24]. As an energy-saving and environmentally-friendly cleaning
vehicle, the vehicle is operated electrically with no noise and no exhaust emissions. Chusheng
CSC5160TSLD4 road sweeper is manufactured by Chusheng Group [25]. This Chusheng road sweeper
has a tonnage of 5900kg with low cost. Chengli road sweeper is produced by Chengli Special Purpose
Vehicle Co., Ltd. [26]. The sweeping disc of this type of road sweeper has the functions of anti-collision
and automatic avoidance. It can also optimize the sweeping method of the sweeping disc according to
the severity of the ground and the sweeper speed. In addition, a lot of companies in other countries also
produce many road cleaning vehicles with different functions. The development is gradually towards
intelligent directions, such as driverless driving and machine vision recognition [7,19,21].

4. Technology Development
In the 1980s, vacuum suction sweepers were widely used. The vacuum suction sweeping type has the
advantages of higher working speed and less environmental pollution than the brush sweeping type. It
can also adjust the suction mouth size of the cleaning car according to different road conditions [10]. At
present, people are constantly improving the intelligent level of electromechanical and hydraulic
integration of cleaning vehicles. The functional design includes the use of computer technology to
process the detected information. Therefore, the sweeper can recognize road obstacles. It is equipped
with display equipment and warning devices, memory. It has storage, self-protection and other functions.
The most important thing is that many sensors are installed to monitor temperature, pressure, road
condition, etc.. The control system issues various commands in response to the signals detected by the
sensors, and the actuators perform various corresponding functions [7].
While pursuing functional breakthroughs with intelligent technology, people have also begun to seek
breakthroughs in environmental protection. In addition, how to make cleaner cars smarter, and how to
reduce noise and emissions have become the research direction of various companies, such as TSM in
Italy. TSM recently developed a sweeper that can follow the operator's forward movement at a precise
distance. And the engine of these electric sweepers not only does not produce any carbon dioxide, but
also has a filtering system to filter and trap fine particles, and the only noise made by the machine is the
sound of the brush rotating on the ground [20].
Although China's road cleaning vehicles started late, they have been developed rapidly [1,4]. At present,
people are closely following the advanced level of integration of electromechanical and hydraulic
systems, and pursuing the development of clean vehicles toward multifunction and environmental
protection benefits, and investing in the development of intelligent clean vehicles. The multifunctional
cleaning vehicle developed integrates cleaning, cleaning, and sewage recovery. It has the functions of
suction and sweep with full filtration and purification. However, it doesn’t need to spray water. The
cleaning device can not only sweep the curb, but also effectively control sweeping dust. The suction
nozzle does not emit dust and has strong suction power without secondary dust pollution. The
all-weather sweeper can solve the problem of water spraying and dust removal in winter in northern
China. At present, people has developed clean vehicle that burns clean energy such as natural gas. The
vehicle is efficient with low noise. People carried out a lot research to intelligentialize the driverless
clean cars [13]. In 2018, the world's first pure electric driverless cleaning team was successfully
developed in Shanghai Songjiang, and it was the first to conduct a late-night trial operation in a science
and technology park. Unmanned cleaning vehicles will automatically wake up at the set time of the
program, and start slowly from the parking space, and complete a series of cleaning tasks by themselves.

3
International Conference on Electrical Automation and Mechanical Engineering IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1626 (2020) 012153 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1626/1/012153

During the operation, they can intelligently identify obstacles on the route, and pass traffic lights
smoothly, and even self handle unexpected conditions. After cleaning, they move to the garbage
collection area to dump the garbage, then return to the starting point, and automatically drive themselves
into the parking space.

5. Future Direction
With the rapid development of the automation industry, road cleaning vehicles will combine sensor
technology and use a variety of effective information extracted by computer integrated sensors to solve
the limitations of single functions of traditional cleaning vehicles. As shown in Table 1, intelligent
manufacturing is a production method that can make enterprises more “smart” in R & D, production,
management, and service. Industrial intelligent manufacturing has changed manufacturing form from
digitized to networked and intelligentialized. Road cleaning vehicles should also keep pace with the
times and will be developed toward intelligent direction. Not only that, with the strengthening of
people's awareness of environmental protection, designing humanized and environmentally friendly
road cleaning vehicles will also be one key development direction.
Table 1. Typical events of industrial intelligence
In 1952, the United States Parsons cooperated with MIT to develop the world's
Digitizing first CNC milling machine [13].
In 1971, Intel introduced microprocessors.
The World Wide Web was invented in 1989.
Networked In 1999, Ashton first proposed the concept of the Internet of Things.
In 2017, China's first Industry 4.0 smart factory demonstration line was
completed in Shenzhen [14].
Intelligent
In 2019, the new MixPad was equipped with the home AI system
independently developed by Oerlikon, realizing smart home operation
throughout the house [15].

6. Concluding Remarks
Road cleaning vehicle is a comprehensive interdisciplinary research project, mainly involving materials,
machinery, control, Internet of Things, environmental science and safety engineering and other
disciplines. Since the development of road cleaning vehicles, it has changed from a single cleaning
function into a multifunctional cleaning vehicle that integrates sewage recycling, with functions such as
suction and sweeping combined with full filtration and purification. With the continuous improvement
of the level of integration of electromechanical fluids and the increasingly high requirements of people's
living environment, cleaning vehicles in many countries have begun to be developed in intelligence and
environmental protection, and have made some achievements.
Today, different types of cleaning vehicles are applied to various occasions, and the abilities to clean
roads, suppress dust and protect the environment are becoming stronger and stronger. With the
continuous innovation of science and technology, it is believed that more and more intelligent road
cleaning vehicles will be developed.

Acknowledgement
Thanks to the financial support of the University Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training
Program project. The project No. relied on in this paper is S201910623082.

References
[1] Xiu-feng REN, Jia-chun SHAO, Development and Present Situation of Highway Maintain
Machine in Our Country and Abroad, J. Science and Technology of Henan Communication.
1999,19 (1) 42-47. (in Chinese)

4
International Conference on Electrical Automation and Mechanical Engineering IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1626 (2020) 012153 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1626/1/012153

[2] Qi-ming ZHANG, Development of Road Sweeping Vehicle, J. Road Machinery & Construction
Mechanization. 2008, 25(8) 56-58. (in Chinese)
[3] Er-juan LUO, The Research and Development of Highway Intelligent Multi-functional Cleaning
vehicle, J. Shanxi Science & Technology of Communications. 2015, (5) 100-102. (in Chinese)
[4] Zhen-wei LU, Jun-wei WU, Zi-yi HE, Ming LI, Performance Analysis of Flow Field Based on
Suction Broom Road Sweepers, J. Special Purpose Vehicle. 2015, (8) 92-96. (in Chinese)
[5] Li-li LIU, Development and Expectation of Subway Tunnel Cleaning Vehicle, J. Urban Mass
Transit. 2016, 19(11) 124-127. (in Chinese)
[6] Information on http://www.sohu.com/a/228453180_320333
[7] Ke-lin XU, Yi-qiong JIANG, Ke-yong XU, A Study on the Intelligentization of the Hydraulic
System for Road Sweeper, J. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment. 2002, 19(5) 24-26. (in
Chinese)
[8] Hai-tao MIN, Ming-zhi ZHANG, Yuan-bin YU, Bei-zhan YAN, Development Trend of
Intelligent Control of Road Sweeping Vehicle Loading Operation Mechanism, J. Special Purpose
Vehicle. 2019, (8) 64-68. (in Chinese)
[9] Information on http://www.dgkarcher.com/enstyle/product_19960708.html
[10] Li-yang XIE, General Condition of Highway Cleaning Cars at Abroad, J. Road Machinery &
Construction Mechanization. 1991, 8(6) 2-5. (in Chinese)
[11] Guo-hao FANG, Ming-zhi FAN, Li-ping SHENG, Introduction and Development Trend of
China’s Sweep Machine, J. Commercial Vehicle. 2008, (10) 94-95. (in Chinese)
[12] Heng-an GE, Jun-yan QI, Hussars of road maintenance -analysis on the status quo of pavement
sweeping vehicles in China. 2005, (6) 68-70. (in Chinese)
[13] Information on https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1631025471737740094&wfr=spider&for=pc
[14] Information on http://www.sohu.com/a/213574421_100075937
[15] Information on http://epaper.xxsb.com/html/content/2019-12/27/content_782433.html
[16] Information on https://www.china.cn/daoluqingsaoche/3893456886.html
[17] Information on http://m.abramchina.com/productshow.php?cid=20&id=64
[18] Information on http://www.china-qingjie.com/cn/product_detail-217104-179291-15607.html
[19] Information on https://www.auak.com/article/746-472582.htm
[20] Information on https://www.jiqilin.com/index.php/Home/Article/detail/article_id/837
[21] Chong-ren ZHANG, New Kind of the Foreign Road Sweepers, J. Technology & Management for
Construction Machinery. 2015, (11) 94-96. (in Chinese)
[22] Information on https://www.17350.com/jiedu/1560.html
[23] Information on http://www.wllq.cn/index.php?a=show&catid=12&id=21
[24] Information on https://www.onwsw.com/sell/201901/02/384221.html
[25] Information on https://www.17350.com/jiedu/1734.html
[26] Information on http://www.jdzj.com/chanpin/ku1_3530762.html
[27] Information on http://china.eb80.com/gongying_8256412.html