A robotic cleaning apparatus for cleaning a dirty object includes a cleaning head and an articulated body. The articulated body is coupled to the cleaning head and mountable to the dirty object. The body has one or more actuators that collectively move the cleaning head into contact with surfaces of the dirty object. The one or more actuators, when activated, collectively rotate the cleaning head relative to the dirty object about first and second axes, and translate the cleaning head relative to the dirty object along an extension axis. A method of robotically cleaning a dirty object.