Sweeping machine

A method of operating an operator driven road-going sweeping machine, the sweeping machine including a battery for powering a rotating brush system, a dirt transportation system for transporting brushed dirt into a hopper and a transmission system,

• the sweeping machine having a cleaning mode of operation where at least one of the rotating brush system and dirt transportation system is operating and a transport mode of operation where neither of the rotating brush system and dirt transportation system are operating,
• the sweeping machine further including a positioning receiver for monitoring the location of the sweeping machine, a battery charge monitoring system for monitoring an amount of energy remaining in the battery and a computer,
• the method comprising the steps of:
• a) providing the computer with the location of a charging station,
• b) using the positioning receiver to provide the computer with the current location of the sweeping machine,
• c) while the sweeping machine is operating in cleaning mode, using the computer to provide an estimate of an amount of energy required to drive the sweeping machine from its current location to the charging station in the transport mode,
• d) using the battery charge monitoring system to provide the computer with the current amount of energy remaining in the battery,
• e) using the computer to compare the estimate with the amount of energy remaining in the battery, wherein when the amount of energy remaining falls below the predetermined amount of the estimate, operation of at least one of a rotating brush system and a dirt transportation system is disabled, and
• f) providing an operator notification when the amount of energy remaining in the battery falls below a predetermined amount of the estimate, wherein the notification comprises a visual and/or audible notification.