Caramba GmbH & Co KG, Duisburg, is aiming to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make car washing more individual and therefore more environmentally friendly. Together with mayato GmbH, the manufacturer is currently developing a solution that recognizes dirt on cars fully automatically, selects the appropriate chemicals and controls their dosage. The AI experts at mayato use data from sensors in the car wash for the evaluations.
Until now, all vehicles in the car wash have been cleaned according to the same program, regardless of the degree of soiling. In many cases, the consumption of washing substances is significantly higher than actually necessary. The dosage of cleaning chemicals should now be optimally adjusted to the degree of soiling of the individual vehicle, thus keeping consumption low.
The experts at mayato are relying on models from the field of computer vision for development. In future, optical sensors will not only detect how much dirt is on a car, but also what kind. Based on this information, the models will determine the appropriate, resource-saving cleaning method.
In addition, AI-supported vehicle washing opens up a change in the business model: in the past, cleaning chemicals were sold in euros per liter. In future, billing per vehicle wash can be based on the pay-per-wash principle. This will give operators far-reaching costing security.
