Hull cleaning robot

A robot configured to clean a surface of a coating applied to a hull of a vessel whilst travelling over said hull, wherein the coating has a König pendulum hardness between 30 to 74 counts, the robot comprising:

• a cleaning brush assembly which comprises a cleaning brush, the cleaning brush being arranged to rotate about its axis to apply a cleaning action to the surface when it is in contact with the surface, wherein the cleaning brush comprises bristles having a bristle length, the bristles having a bristle diameter of 1 mm or less;
• wherein the robot is configured to apply a degree of compression of the cleaning brush on the surface such that the cleaning brush is held in a position a distance towards the surface of the coating, away from an initial position at which the cleaning brush is in contact with, but not deformed by, the surface of the coating, wherein said distance is less than 20% of the bristle length of the bristles;
• and
• the robot further comprising a processor configured to:
• determine a location of the robot on the hull of the vessel;
• query a memory coupled to said processor to identify one or more cleaning parameters associated with the determined location;
• and
• determine that the robot requires reconfiguration based on the one or more identified cleaning parameters;
• wherein the processor is configured to determine a location of the robot on the hull of the vessel based on receiving location data from at least one of:
• a location sensor on the robot;
• a location sensor on the vessel, the robot comprising a communication interface for receiving the location data from said location sensor;
• or
• a computing device, the robot configured to receive the location data from the computing device via said communication interface.

A robot configured to clean a surface of a coating applied to a hull of a vessel whilst travelling over said hull, wherein the coating has a König pendulum hardness greater than or equal to 75 counts, the robot comprising:

• a cleaning brush assembly which comprises a cleaning brush, the cleaning brush being arranged to rotate about its axis to apply a cleaning action to the surface when it is in contact with the surface, wherein the cleaning brush comprises bristles having a bristle length, the bristles having a bristle diameter of 0.5 to 2 mm;
• wherein the robot is configured to apply a degree of compression of the cleaning brush on the surface such that the cleaning brush is held in a position a distance towards the surface of the coating, away from an initial position at which the cleaning brush is in contact with, but not deformed by, the surface of the coating, wherein said distance is 4 to 60% of the bristle length of the bristles;
• and
• the robot further comprising a processor configured to:
• determine a location of the robot on the hull of the vessel;
• query a memory coupled to said processor to identify one or more cleaning parameters associated with the determined location;
• and
• determine that the robot requires reconfiguration based on the one or more identified cleaning parameters;
• wherein the processor is configured to determine a location of the robot on the hull of the vessel based on receiving location data from at least one of:
• a location sensor on the robot;
• a location sensor on the vessel, the robot comprising a communication interface for receiving the location data from said location sensor;
• or
• a computing device, the robot configured to receive the location data from the computing device via said communication interface.