The sight of a robot cleaning an airport may sound like straight out of a film but now, such things are becoming increasingly common across major airports in India. Recently, an X user shared photos that showed compact-sized robots cleaning the Ahmedabad airport floors. The photos were captioned, “Ahmedabad airport goes hi-tech! Saw this Intelligent Cleaning Robots at the Airport. Got to know that they cover a whopping 13,000 square feet per hour & operate silently for 8 hours on a single charge ! (Made in India) There are four such robots, two at international & two at domestic terminal.”
In a follow-up post, the X user noted that these cleaning airport robots were made by Peppermint Robotics, a Pune-based company. As per Peppermint Robotics’s X bio, they provide “Intelligent Cleaning and Material Handling robots for Industrial and Commercial spaces.”
https://twitter.com/kumarmanish9/status/1783475073409601542
Commenting on the above-mentioned post, an X user recalled meeting the founder of Peppermint Robotics and wrote, “I met with a Peppermint startup founder in IIT-B. At that time his machines were used in Dubai airports. Good Indian airports also take these wonderful AI-powered robots.”
I met with a peppermint startup founder in iitb. At that time his machines were used in Dubai airports. Good Indian airports also take these wonder ai powered robots.— vineet garg (@vineetgarg2002) April 26, 2024
People also predicted that soon, more tasks at the airports will be automated and handled by specialised robots. Making this point, an X user wrote, “Robo cleaners is just the beginning as time progresses we will have robo baggage handlers and at the rate of tech development may even be automated flights without any pilots.”
Robo cleaners is just the beginning as time progresses we will have robo baggage handlers and at the rate of tech development may be even automated flights without any pilot's— skeletorrrrr (@skeletorrrrr1) April 26, 2024
The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport also responded to the post and wrote, “Dear Mr Kumar, thank you for the kind words. Providing safety, hygiene and health to all our passengers is our topmost priority and we will continue to do so with the latest technology use. Wishing you goodness always. Team SVPIA.”
Dear Mr Kumar, thank you for the kind words. Providing safety, hygiene and health to all our passengers is our topmost priority and we will continue to do so with the latest technology use. Wishing you goodness always. Team SVPIA.— Ahmedabad Airport (@ahmairport) April 25, 2024
While many people were impressed by the cleaning robots, many argued that the widespread use of robots is going to take away jobs from the janitorial staff, which will lead to unemployment. An X user remarked, “Bad for the economy and common people as it is eating jobs of hardworking cleaning staff.”
Bad for the economy and common people as it is eating jobs of hardworking cleaning staff.— Pritish Poswal (@pritishposwal) April 25, 2024
Another person wrote, “I know this is an absurd thing to say “But we don’t need this”. Going tech-savvy is superb, I love tech & modernization. Only worry is job loss in the future, when they really get smart. We are a 130cr+ country. Many jobs will be lost than created! A Catch 22 situation!!”
https://twitter.com/kc_kaas/status/1783680748308021253
The Ahmedabad airport has employed the Peppermint Robotics SD-45 model, which is a fully autonomous robotic floor scrubber dryer. It is designed to work in commercial and industrial floor cleaning with several safety aspects such as obstacle detection and anti-collision features for 360-degree safety.
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