Glossary / Operations
What is Duty Cycle?
Duty cycle is the proportion of time a robot spends actively working versus charging, refilling or idle, and it directly determines how much floor area it can cover per day.
Last reviewed:
A robot's duty cycle is shaped by battery runtime, charging speed, tank capacity for cleaning robots, and how the shift is scheduled around those constraints. A robot with a two-hour runtime and a 30-minute charge can, in principle, run several cycles across an overnight shift, but real-world duty cycle also accounts for refilling water, emptying waste and any brief interruptions.
Understanding duty cycle matters when sizing a deployment: a supplier quoting theoretical maximum coverage without accounting for charging and refilling time will overstate what a robot can realistically achieve in a given shift window. A proper site survey models duty cycle against your actual shift pattern and floor area.
Improving duty cycle — through faster charging, larger tanks, or multiple docking points — is one of the main ways suppliers increase the effective coverage of a robot without adding a second unit.
Common questions
- What determines a robot's duty cycle?
- Battery runtime, charging speed, and for cleaning robots, tank capacity for water and waste, all combined with the shift window available.
- Does a longer duty cycle mean a better robot?
- Generally yes for coverage, but it should be considered alongside build quality and reliability, not as the only factor in choosing a robot.
- How is duty cycle factored into a site survey?
- The survey models your actual shift pattern and floor area against the robot's realistic runtime and charging needs to confirm it can achieve the coverage required.
Related terms
Next steps