General Motors has filed for a patent on a self-cleaning robotaxi floor that uses the sort of technology found in a supermarket checkout lane.

The floor system operates like a conveyor belt that rotates to move any debris dropped by passengers into a collection bin underneath and provide a clean surface to subsequent occupants. It's designed for fully autonomous vehicles that would operate without a driver who could monitor for messes left behind during the course of a day. The system could clean up "food items, garbage and trash, liquids, ice, snow, mud or dirt, and the like," according to the filing, which includes a diagram showing a banana peel as one example.

The patent application, which was filed in January 2021 and published this month, was reported by GM Authority. It lists several California-based GM employees as the system's inventors.

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