After
reading the article regarding 'How tech can ease the cleaning industry's
manpower crunch', by GERMii (2021) , I learn about how future labour will be
complemented by robots. First and foremost, since the COVID-19 outbreak,
cleanliness has been one of the highest priorities. Because of the COVID-19
outbreak, the article stated that Harold Van Haltren, CEO of pathogen
mitigation company GERMII, will be exploring the trends that will influence
public hygiene. From the article it also stated that , "By introducing
Whiz, an AI vacuum cleaning robot that has GERMII’s technology, which
transforms ultraviolet C (UV-C) into a concentrated beam of light that is
lethal to viruses, bacteria, and pathogens able to disinfect surfaces without
relying on chemicals and sterilize the environment." As a result, having
sterile and safe business premises provides peace of mind. With its capability
of learning routes and creating reports, it saves the facilities manager time
and cleaners. Whereby GERMii also stated that the cleaners will be expected to
concentrate on more crucial chores, including sterilizing "high-touch,
high-risk, or difficult-to-clean areas" as a result. Lastly, for its
features from the photo it is given from the article, it has a 2D/3D camera (sensor),
and with its small build, it can move around in a crowded area without any
difficulties.
While the
robot , Whiz, can learn routes and navigate around freely and cleaning ,where
it benefits cleaners in the future purposes such as supporting labour manual
due to its 2D/3D camera (sensor) , I feel that there are a few disadvantages to
it whereby the batteries have a short battery life and when the robot is
cleaning, objects such as twigs, can be clog up. Not only that , with the capability of learning
routes, the cleaning robots tend not do what they were program for.
One disadvantage is that when the
robot is cleaning and navigating around freely, small objects can be clog up whereby
Baswal ( 2023 ), he stated that cleaning machine can be defeated when
small objects get clog up when it is specifically designed to navigate around
obstacle. Thus , it can make the machine malfunction where it is costly to
repair. Not only that, but he also stated the second disadvantages whereby that
the machine has a short battery life making the cleaning job incomplete and when
the machine is charged, it can only last for a roughly 2 hours and its
recharging time may take up to several hours.
The next article also discusses the
use of technology to support manual labour. The article which says, “Advantages
and disadvantages of robotic vacuum cleaners-India” by Shareef (2023) , tells
us that even though it can navigate around and clean floors, in paragraph eight
of the article it stated that “ Robotic vacuum cleaner come with short battery
life and in some cases, they will not be able to complete the cleaning
assignment.” Thus, in some cases, where workers or cleaners tend to forget to
charge this battery and when in time of use, the robot will either not complete
its cleaning assignment or not do anything due to its battery out of charge.
The third disadvantages where the
cleaning robots tend to not do what they were program for, by McCabe (2019 ) , stated
that “It might spend 20 minutes cleaning the same small section of the house
and then miss an entire room.” Thus, if we apply this in a work environment, it
will also miss a few cleaning spots. Not only that, but the video given by
McCabe on the website is also a proof that the robots are not the best
technology yet as it could not do what they are program for and hopefully soon,
these robots will be better and eventually help reducing our cleaning jobs.
In conclusion, from these
articles, I think technology will eventually benefit and reduce the workloads
of these cleaners and workers making a safe and clean environment. As a result,
reading these articles teaches us more about technology, how robots will
supplement human labour in the future, and how these robots will make the world
a cleaner and better place for everyone. However, having this robot do come at
a disadvantage as we must maintain them properly and learn to use it well as this
robot can easily malfunction and when it does, the cost of repairing it will be
very costly.
Reference:
Advantages
and Disadvantages of Floor Cleaning Machine (2023) (goodhousecleaner.com)
4
Disappointing Truths About Robot Vacuums | Wirecutter (nytimes.com)
Robotic
vacuum cleaner advantages and disadvantages | Zelect.in
How tech
can ease the cleaning industry’s manpower crunch (govinsider.asia)
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