Images courtesy of Intellibot Robotics Onboard intelligence can provide performance information at the user’s fingertips to make the job easier. Hands-free mode is great for large areas that typically take a lot of time to complete, e.g. hallways, conference rooms, gymnasi-ums, etc. — time that the operator could be spending on more productive activities. Maximum hands-free run time is typically around four hours on a battery charge. Safety Robotic autoscrubbers have an excellent safety record. Multiple sensors surround the machines and are continuously scanning the environ-ment for obstacles and people. If a person cuts closely in front of the ro-bot, it will instantly stop and wait for the per-son to move along. If the person doesn’t move, the robot will slowly proceed around the person and re-sume cleaning. If the robot can’t determine a safe route around the obstacle, it will remain station-ary and call the operator’s phone or pager for help. There are also sensors that prevent a tum-ble down stairs or off loading docks. Improved Productivity And Consistency tinues to clean the floor and truly multitask. Today, one person can scrub the floors and clean the bathrooms at the same time. Robotic floor cleaning has been around for a number of years, but only in the last three or four years has it started to take off for both commercial and residential cleaning. ran the machine, the location, when it ran, if there were any problems or if maintenance is required. In addition, remote diagnostics allow ser-vice technicians to monitor your machines 24/7 and provide remote assistance to re-duce service calls. If a service technician is required for an on-site call, he will know the service issue before he leaves the shop, making sure he has the right parts the first time, reducing downtime. Over the years, autoscrubbers have gotten wider and faster in an attempt to improve productivity. Hands-free operation can take produc-tivity to an entirely new level by allowing one person to do the work of two. For even greater productivity, one per-son can run multiple machines at the same time. Cleaning consistency can also improve since the robot covers the same area each time: No wandering, no skips and no breaks. Technology At Work The technology that “drives” Hands-Free Cleaning® is a combination of sensors and onboard intelligence that enables the ma-chine to “see” the room. Each time the robot enters the room or hallway, it determines the best way to clean and how to avoid any stationary or moving obstacles. This real-time navigation allows it to easily adapt to changes in the environment — for example, a desk or cart moved into a hallway. The onboard intelligence can also provide information available at the user’s fingertips to make the job easier. Performance reports can be sent directly to a computer or smartphone showing who The Hands-free Advantage Like cruise control on a car, Hands-Free Cleaning® is not the perfect solution for ev-ery situation. However, it’s great to have when you need it. Depending on the environment, the op-erator can easily switch between manual and hands-free mode. Manual mode allows for traditional clean-ing and works best for smaller areas with lots of obstacles like classrooms. Doing More With Less We all find ourselves at some point trying to do more with less. Budgets are squeezed, expectations are changed and there’s never enough time in the day to finish the job. Technology changes all things, and Hands-Free Cleaning® autoscrubbers are a new tool that can help an operation im-prove results more consistently while reduc-ing costs. www.CMMOnline.com 31
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