ALTON - There are a few new members of Alton High School’s custodial staff.
The school recently introduced two robots, a CenoBot sweeper and scrubber, that will keep the floors of the high school clean. Dave Allison, head of custodial at the high school, explained that the robots are an exciting addition that will make the jobs of the custodial staff a little easier.
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“It’s really difficult to get the floors of a high school where you want them when you have a high school that is all about their students,” Allison said. “This school never sleeps. There’s always something going on here. From a custodial standpoint, to ensure that the hallways stay clean, it's difficult because there’s always people in the hallways.”
The sweeper and scrubber robots can be programmed to travel around the school and clean the floors. They then return to their docking stations on their own to recharge. The sweeper must be manually emptied, but the scrubber can dispose of its dirty water and refill with clean water automatically.
Allison stressed that the robots are safe. They have sensors in them so they stop if a person or obstacle is in their way. The robots will recalculate and make three attempts to return to that spot to clean it after the obstacle moves.
The custodial staff will still manually complete the buffing, waxing, stripping and other maintenance of the floors. The goal is for the robots to aid in their work. Allison said that the robots are not a replacement for any staff members.
“There was nobody that was let go,” he said. “We did have a floor tech, but we rearranged our positions and we kept him on board. This is just going to be an addition.”
Allison works for HES Facilities Management, a nationwide janitorial company. The CenoBot robots, purchased from Royal Lab, are the first robots that HES Facilities Management has introduced to their company. This means Alton is setting a precedent for other HES Facilities Management locations.
But Allison is especially excited because Alton High School has decided to get the students involved. Students will have the opportunity to name the robots.
Additionally, the robotics club will meet with engineers from CenoBot for a special presentation about the robots and how they work. Students will be able to ask questions about engineering and robotics. Allison is eager to share the robots with the students. He emphasized that everyone in the school is focused on the students, and this is another opportunity to enhance their learning.
“As a student who is tampering with robotics, they can see in the real world how it all comes together and how they can further their education, become an engineer, whatever, and be able to create things in the real world for companies like ours to make things easier for them,” he added. “It’s like a kid at Christmas, just waiting to open the presents.”
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