When the Washington Post tapped Ava to provide input to their 'Cleaning Robots' feature, we had just finished an interview with Scripps Network around UV light, disinfection, and autonomous robots.
But the Post's article wanted to dig a bit deeper into market insights around automation happening "in bursts" and what that means for businesses across the board from retail to food service to healthcare to manufacturing. Drones spraying down stadium seats, self checkouts, automated floor scrubbers, and UV robots are all in demand--or at least under further investigation. The scramble for hands-free, human-free robots is real, but what does it really look like for businesses right now, a month from now, a year from now?
(Credit: Erick M. Ramos for The Washington Post)
In providing market context around the building acceptance of robots in the workplace, we shared our experience with businesses looking to not only provide a clean, safe space for workers, visitors, and customers--but also communicate that assurance to instill a renewed level of comfort. This confidence is what partially translates into, for many businesses, recovery, and for many others, continued loyalty and trust.
The Post team also reached out to MIT to gather more insights from the CSAIL team who worked with us on the Greater Boston Food Bank disinfection robot. This fully-autonomous robot has been able to disinfect a 4,000 square foot warehouse in approximately 30 minutes. And it has also been a successful proof-of-concept for both Ava and MIT teams as we look to build upon the market demand for safe, effective cleaning solutions in covid times and well beyond.
“By knowing the geometry of the space — usually represented as a map — the robot can compute a patrolling trajectory and speed to expose all surfaces to the dosage that neutralizes the pathogens,” said Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory. The robot came together in about a month, Rus said, though it was based on more than a decade of research into mobile robotics.