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SINGAPORE – Floor cleaning, pest monitoring and other labor-intensive tasks in maintaining facilities like food centers could soon be done by robots.
Several robots, which perform tasks such as cleaning floors, inspecting false ceilings, disinfecting elevator panels and mapping the density of mosquitoes in the surroundings, are being tested on a test bed at Tampines Round Market and Food Center and could be implemented in other centers of food in future.
The robots are intended to relieve cleaning workers and workers from strenuous and repetitive tasks, and free them up to perform other higher-value functions that could lead to new skills, such as handling the robots, Tampines City Council said.
The Tampines GRC MPs, the Minister of Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, the Senior Minister of State for Health Koh Poh Koon, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng and the Chairman of the City Council Cheng Li Hui, They were in the center of Tampines 11 street to see the robots in action on Saturday (September 19).
“Robotics is a very important part of how we are going to transform the economy,” Masagos told the media.
“This is important for now, so that we can be more productive, but also for the future, when in Singapore, in particular, the workforce will be a big challenge 10-15 years from now.
“(It’s) better to be ready now, produce these technologies, then implement them, learn from them,” he added.
The maintenance robots are developed by engineers from Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and the project is funded by the National Robotics Program.
Five robots, two for floor cleaning, one for false ceiling inspection, one for elevator disinfection panel and one mosquito density mapping robot, will be deployed in and around the market.
The false ceiling inspection robot will also be used to scare away pigeons and mynahs by emitting sound frequencies that are directed at these birds.
Around 20 full-time engineers from the university, along with a mix of undergraduate and graduate students, are working on the project, which includes five other robots for cleaning and facilities management that are being developed and could also be tested. in Tampines. .
After the pilot test in the market, the technologies could be implemented in other food centers in the constituency, as well as in HDB blocks, the city council said.
These robots took between two to five months to develop before they were ready for testing, said SUTD assistant professor Mohan Rajesh Elara.
Dr Mohan explained that the robots are being deployed to the Tampines market for real life testing and “final fine tuning.”
The university is also in talks with manufacturers to identify how the products can be marketed, he added.
The project, which is also supported by the National Environment Agency, could have the robots deployed at other food hubs in Singapore, Dr Mohan said.
A spokesman for the Tampines City Council said that 14 cleaners in the compound will be part of the pilot and will undergo between one and two weeks of training to use these robots.
Using these robots does not mean that workers are cut off. Instead, it provides skills-enhancing opportunities for workers, he added, noting that it also addresses the labor shortage.
With robots taking over routine jobs, cleaners could focus on sanitizing functions, which are difficult for the team to handle.
Commenting on this, Mr. Masagos emphasized the importance of collaboration between humans and technology.
“Robots will never take over our jobs … We will find use for robots where it is dangerous for our workers to go or (where) it is not a productive way to deploy our work, at the same time creating new opportunities.”
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