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Robots are cleaning in Paris
18th of September 2020Robots are now being used to clean many sites in Paris, reports Christian Bouzols.
In the deep passages of the Paris métro, an odd looking machine, glowing in black and orange colours, can now be seen moving to and fro. It’s been tested for some while by the RATP and its supplier Onet, a major cleaning company. It’s now a familiar site among passengers.
Packed with all kinds of sensors and capable of seeing in every direction, the machine can run without backup for four hours. During that time, it can clean 4,000 square metres sensing every object along its path. According to the RATP, it consumes 76 per cent less water and cleaning products than a conventional scrubber dryer.
Another machine, developed by the Fybots company, is operating at the Châtelet-les-Halles railway station. The machine can run for 12 hours on its own power and clean up to 30,000 square metres. For an organisation like the RATP, which has an annual cleaning budget of €85 million and deploys 1,000 cleaners, robotics holds great promise for the future.
Cleaning professionals are all joining in. What can be more modern than using robots to improve the image of a not-too- popular profession and displaying métro cleaners next to a fleet of robots? The French cleaning federation (FEP) has commissioned Accenture to produce a report on this “digital transition” in order to evaluate its effects on FEP members, half of which are medium and small enterprises, and to prepare them for this new development.
Accenture has confirmed that robots are beginning to take root in the world of cleaning. “This is no longer a nascent market, it has entered in its take-off stage but is far from being generalised.”
The first cleaning robots appeared about three years ago and were mainly used for very large areas, such as railway stations, airports and warehouses. Often run at night, they’re far from being included in all cleaning contracts, particularly those involving small and medium sized companies.
However, they may well become a must in the future. They’re becoming progressively cheaper, technologically more reliable and improving in range, and they’re ideal for repetitive and non qualified tasks. At the moment they cost from €20,000 to €70,000.
Recovering such investment shouldn’t take long for companies whose cleaning budgets can reach 60 per cent of their general services expenditure. One can expect robot developments to take place in specific areas such as window cleaning, duct cleaning and dealing with hazardous areas, such as in nuclear power stations.
In a future robotics-dominated world, humans will be doing delicate jobs and controlling machines. The human cleaner will increasingly be involved in specialist tasks. “With the increasing deployment of robots for standard jobs, humans will become more visible, which is already happening in the French railways”, said Onet’s Stéphane Point.
The Accenture report also highlights the increasing use of connected objects. At Marseilles airport, sensors constantly monitor passenger numbers indicate if areas need cleaning. In the toilets, sensors mounted on liquid soap and toilet paper dispensers send out alarms when they become empty. At the Pasteur Institute, cleaners carry tablets which display all the areas requiring specific products.
The use of robots might concurrently improve the image of a trade that attracts few young people and where the average age is 46.