Summary/reader's response draft #2

 The article “How tech can ease the cleaning industry’s manpower crunch” (GERMii, 2021) introduces SoftBank Robotics’ “AI – powered commercial floorcare cleaning robot, Whiz”. According to the article (GERMii, 2021), Whiz vacuums without external help so that cleaners can prioritize on “human – centric tasks”. It also steers clear of obstacles automatically and provides operators “real – time data and alerts”, allowing them to enjoy serenity with minimum supervision (GERMii, 2021). With an award winning BrainOS navigation software, all it takes is a one-time setup from the user and Whiz will remember the route (Jacky's, 2022). The built-in sensors and cliff detectors also ensure it avoids obstacles with ease. Whiz also has an effective cleaning system. It can thoroughly clean and cover a carpet area of 500m². With the help of the hepa filter, it allows it to “capture 99.97% of PM2.5 particles including pollen and dust” (Jacky's, 2022). According to (Jacky's, 2022), users will also be able to obtain “real time information” such as alerts, device status and analysis report from the pager provided or via the Whiz connect web application. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the robot can last up to 3 hours with a single charge. Whiz will be able to help the cleaning industry uphold the high standards of cleanliness by allowing cleaning staff to prioritize on more important cleaning and increasing the cleaning efficiency.

Tasks such as vacuum cleaning and mopping are time-consuming and mundane. However, they are essential to maintain the strict requirements of cleanliness. With a cleaning capacity of 4L and maximum running time of 3 hours, Whiz will be able to perform these duties effectively instead of the cleaning staff.  It will cover an area of 500m2/hour, which will be more than what the cleaning staff can cover. Meanwhile, the cleaning staff will have more time to concentrate on more important tasks, such as “sterilising “high-touch, high-risk, or difficult-to-clean areas”” (GERMii, 2021)i.e., elevator buttons, bathrooms and desks. According to SoftBank Robotics (SoftBank Robotics Team, 2020), the cleaning industry has limited resources such as manpower to carry out their daily jobs. Whiz will be able to tackle that issue due to it being able to “offload up to 30% of cleaning time traditionally spent vacuuming manually” (SoftBank Robotics Team, 2020).

The features and functions of Whiz also increase the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning industry. Firstly, the “analysis reports about cleaning status” (Jacky's, 2022) gives managers a deeper understanding of the cleaning performance. This allows the cleaning company to “increase efficiency, reduce expenses and identify areas for improvement”. Secondly, with the help of the built-in safety features such as obstacle detection, fall prevention (LIDAR sensor, 3D camera) and impact detection, Whiz steers clear of obstacles and human traffic. Pairing the navigation software with the built-in safety features, Whiz will determine the best route to take while avoiding obstacles. The hepa filter also plays a part in increasing the cleaning efficiency. High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are able to trap “99.97 percent of particles that are 0.3 microns” (Coway, 2022). Since Whiz uses hepa filter, it can trap the dirty particles in the air such as dust, giving the environment cleaner air.

However, bringing Whiz into the cleaning industry does have its disadvantages as well. Firstly, it can be expensive. According to (Kingsman Media Pte Ltd, 2019), Whiz will be under a scheme named Robot-as-a-Service, which is a monthly subscription. The subscription will be priced at $499 per unit/month with an extra $100 maintenance fee. Secondly, as an AI robot, Whiz will not be able to have dynamic thinking. It is only programmed to do certain duties and will not do anything that is not instructed to do. On the other hand, cleaning staff can think critically and adapt to any situations they might face.

Although Whiz brings certain disadvantages to the cleaning industry, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in general. Thus, Whiz will be a great helping hand to the industry and companies should consider on making Whiz their potential partner.

 

 

 

 

References

Coway. (2022). Hepa standards explained. Retrieved from cowaymega: https://cowaymega.com/blogs/blog/what-is-a-hepa-filter

GERMii. (2021, June 1). How tech can ease the cleaning industry's manpower crunch. Retrieved from Govinsider: https://govinsider.asia/future-of-work/how-tech-can-ease-the-cleaning-industrys-manpower-crunch-robots-germii/

Jacky's. (2022). Whiz - A commercial dry Vacuum cleaning Robot. Retrieved from Jacky's: https://www.jackys.com/business-solutions/education/whiz-vacuum-robot/67

Kingsman Media Pte Ltd. (2019, October 4). SoftBank Robotics Singapore Launches AI Commercial Vacuum Cleaner 'Whiz'. Retrieved from Nxtmag: https://nxtmag.tech/2019/10/04/softbank-robotics-singapore-launches-ai-commercial-vacuum-cleaner-whiz/

SoftBank Robotics Team. (2020, April 14). 3 Ways Humans & Commercial Cleaning Robots Work in the New Normal. Retrieved from SoftBank Robotics: https://us.softbankrobotics.com/blog/3-ways-humans-and-robots-collaborate-in-commercial-cleanings-new-normal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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