in Barcelona
3 to 5 Nov 2026The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), part of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), has deployed a fleet of autonomous “Robosweeper” cleaning vehicles along the Corniche as part of its drive to modernise public services and embed self-driving technologies in daily urban operations.
Developed by Autogo, a subsidiary of government-owned technology firm K2 Technologies, under the supervision of the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council, the Robosweeper units navigate pre-programmed routes to clean pavements, squares, and pedestrian areas without direct human input. The initiative aims to reduce manual labour dependency while improving hygiene and operational efficiency across the city.
Each Robosweeper is equipped with an array of lidars, cameras, millimeter-wave radars, and GNSS antennas, providing 360-degree awareness and allowing the vehicles to detect pedestrians, obstacles, and stationary objects in real time. They can autonomously return to base, clean with edge precision within roughly three centimetres, and carry out dust suppression and water-surface cleaning. The devices use artificial intelligence for navigation, path planning, and obstacle avoidance. A single unit reportedly covers more than 120,000 square metres on one charge, according to local coverage.
While neither the investment cost nor the number of units deployed has been publicly disclosed, the project forms part of Abu Dhabi’s broader autonomous mobility programme. Earlier initiatives included trials of autonomous delivery vehicles in Masdar City and driverless ride-hailing services launched in partnership with Uber and WeRide
