Press Release: Trombia partners with ISS to pilot autonomous sweeping at Helsinki Airport

Pilot: Autonomous sweeper managing the hustle and bustle of Helsinki Airport parking lot and its outdoor premises

Trombia Technologies pilots together with facility services company ISS how autonomous sweeping technology suits the needs of busy and high maintenance aviation premises. Focus of the pilot is to develop ways autonomous street sweepers can support facilities maintenance work in busy closed areas like parking lots, where cleanliness is key both for the security and for the atmosphere.

Finnish street maintenance technology developer Trombia Technologies continues its commercial pilot program with the full-power autonomous and electric Trombia Free street sweeper in Helsinki Airport premises. The frontrunner pilot partner is facility services company ISS Finland.

The target of the pilot is to focus on developing future ways autonomous street sweepers can support facilities maintenance work in busy traffic and industrial areas. Especially parking lots need special expertise from maintenance, as there are both parked and moving cars, pedestrians, building pillars and narrow parking spaces. As Trombia Free operates without using any water, the pilot will also focus on finding how well it removes dust from the parking lots waterless.

  • Airports are open basically 24/7 and to fill the needs of the global traveller, all areas from the parking lot to the terminal and to the gate need to fill high service levels safely and this can be a true sweet spot for autonomous maintenance. During the pilot we will work in continuous mode, meaning the robot will work in the areas also during the night, says Antti Nikkanen, CEO of Trombia Technologies.

Trombia Free will operate in the areas around Terminal 1 and the parking lot 3 starting from the 12th of July.

  • At ISS our purpose is to connect people and places to make the world work better. In a better working world innovations and technology help people to work, live and travel in a safe and comfortable way. That is why ISS Finland is proudly participating in this project with Trombia Technologies. We are constantly looking for new innovations and finding solutions that make life easier, more productive, and meaningful for our customers and for our employees. We are frontrunner in sustainable facility management and this pilot also supports our corporate responsibility and environmental targets, says Jukka Backlund, Head of Facility Management product, ISS Finland.

During the 10 days long pilot the estimated carbon emissions saved will be around 26kg/h Co2.

  • As we know we need to cut our carbon emissions heavily during the following years. Electric sweepers and other service robots can play a big role in revolutionizing the environmental impact of maintenance, says Nikkanen.

The pilot is part of “Multi-purpose Service Robotics as Operator Business” (MURO) project, that is run by one of Europe’s leading research institutions VTT and funded by Business Finland.

More information:

Antti Nikkanen

CEO

Trombia Technologies

antti.nikkanen(a)trombia.com

+358 40 722 8309

High-res pictures and other inquiries: press(a)trombia.com

Trombia Technologies is a Finnish road maintenance equipment manufacturer known for its innovation for dust and snow clearing technologies. The parent company Snowek Oy was founded in Kuopio, Finland in 2011 the company and has since grown into a global player in high end wheel loader and tractor snow plow and sweeper attachments.

Company’s flagship innovation, global-wide patented, Trombia sweeping technology, is designed to offer sweeping operators global-wide a more sustainable, cost-efficient, easier-to maintain and faster alternative for combating both mechanical debris and fine dust challenges in paved areas.

Trombia Free autonomous sweepers, launched on the September 29th, 2020, outline the company’s vision to grow from a fast-growing SME and innovator, into the world’s leading city sweeping technology provider in the modern greener and more sustainable city cleaning era.