The FX250 Enters Full Production
As 2019 is now fully upon us, we are pleased to announce that the FX250 has moved from pilot manufacturing to full production. Cygnus Manufacturing Company (CMC), our full-service partner, is ISO 9000 certified, ITAR registered, and has experience in precision machining, custom fabrication, and product assembly. They’ve also demonstrated their expertise in robotics, with successful projects in their portfolio. In short, the company has both the necessary experience and the commitment that Discovery Robotics was looking for as we prepare for 2019 shipments of our commercial floor cleaning robot.
Cygnus was recently honored by Pittsburgh Business Times as Manufacturer of the Year within the Pittsburgh region and was previously awarded for the quality, utility, and flexibility of their manufacturing space. We are pleased to have found such a capable partner who can handle the advanced specifications of the FX250.
Cygnus has experience with precision products and components including medical devices, control cabinets for nuclear power plants, scientific instrumentation, and aerospace and defense industry products. In short, they have extensive experience working with products with exacting specs that serve in demanding fields, requiring the utmost in attention to detail. The FX250 combines precision instrumentation, innovative technology, and durability to create a powerful machine that delivers consistent, safe, and reliable cleaning for commercial and industrial applications.
Cygnus will be responsible for constructing some key parts and expertly assembling the unique features of the FX250. This includes the patent-pending interchangeable tool suite, that allows the machine to flex between both carpet and hard floor friendly options. One is a sweeper module designed as a quieter option specializing in large debris pick up. The second is a vacuum module that can execute a deeper clean of soiled areas and is better at fine particulate pick up. Both cleaning tools have a cleaning rate of 10,000 square feet per hour. The vacuum has a 12-gallon bag, while the sweeper has an 8-gallon bin. Both modules are operating with a HEPA filtration.
Our manufacturing partner will also assume responsibility for installing each of FX250’s onboard power plants. The FX250 lithium ion battery system delivers more cleaning time than any other commercial cleaning robot available in the market today. While operating in vacuum mode the FX250 has a full 8 hour run time on a single charge, and that increases to 10 hours when the sweeper module is used.
Innovative cleaning functionality and a reliable, long-lasting power source are critical to the success of the FX250. But it’s the indoor navigation system that is the intelligence in the machine. This system uses a full onboard sensor suite to map, plan, localize, and operate safely and efficiently. The sensor suite provides the FX250 with a full understanding of the surrounding environment. The deep experience that Cygnus has with scientific instrumentation has translated well to our needs in this area and early commercial production has consistently hit the high expectations that we have for the team.
Production units will continue to be manufactured throughout Q1 and into the remainder of 2019. If you are interested in learning more about the FX250, you can reach us at info@discovery-robotics.com, or by getting in touch here.