Eraser robot combines technology and cultural history

120,000 pictures are taken care of by Ryszadr Moroz, paper restorer at the Westphalian State Museum for Art and Cultural History, which he brings into shape on a daily basis for exhibitions at the museum. So far the severely dirtied and often fragile pictures were processed manually. Thereby about two and a half hours had to be scheduled for cleaning a surface of 800 x 600 mm. Moroz wanted to save a lot of time by using a rubber eraser.

The restorer's query aroused the curiosity of three students of the mechanical engineering faculty in the Hans-Böckler-Schule at the Berufskolleg in the city of Münster. Jan Hallek, Guido Madsack and Jürgen Reinker decided to make this project the topic of their degree thesis. Thus they developed the first eraser robot in the world to process pictures fully automatically.

The committed team determined the requirements of the device with the aid of brainstorming sessions. Shape stability, low interferences, dry operation, low noise and a good price/performance ratio are only some of the key words that were important in the selection of material for the moving device. After precise cost-benefit analysis and product comparisons of several suppliers, the team came to the conclusion that the igus® products optimally fulfill the requirements and at the same time offered the most cost efficient alternative.

"We are thrilled by the commitment, ambition and resourcefulness of the students. From the time of the sponsorship application up to the start of operation of the eraser robot, the collaboration proceeded in an exceptionally professional and reliable manner," says the pleased Stefan Niermann (Project Supervisor at igus^®)