Cleaning robots in the school

Robomatic Marvin helps out at the Linnakangas School

The Linnakangas School in Finland can newly count on the help of Robomatic Marvin from Wetrok. The new team member not only eases the workload of the cleaning team, but the pupils are also impressed by “Martti” and now have a different perception of cleaning.

Linnakangas School is in the local authority of Kempele located in the central area of Finland, close to the city of Oulu. Linnakangastalo, as it is called in Finland, is a community centre that houses a daycare centre, preschool education, and basic education grades 1–9. In total, there are about 1,100 children attending as well as employing approximately 120 staff.

Linnakangastalo also houses a sports facility which is used by pupils during the day and by members of the public in the evenings. The sporting complex consists of 2 sports halls: a triple sports hall of around 1,200 m² and a smaller one of around 500 m².

The school is a shoe-free facility, meaning all shoes are left at the entrances by pupils as they enter the school, and they walk around all areas in just their socks. Therefore, of course, floor cleanliness is critical to ensure a safe working environment and means the hard floor areas of the school need cleaning regularly, sometimes when the areas are quiet and sometimes when the children are around.

The cleaning at Linnakangas School is done by a team from the Kempele local authority, who took over the duties from a private contract cleaning business a couple of years ago. The team of 11 are responsible for the cleaning and the catering services at the school. Ms. Marjo Rauma, the cleaning and catering manager, when taking over responsibility for cleaning at Linnakangas School, asked herself the following question “would it be possible to have a higher cleaning frequency, and better cleaning results, without necessarily increasing cleaning hours or staff numbers?”. The answer to this question was yes, and she turned to technology for help.

Linnakangas School discussed their needs with their cleaning supplies company, Finntensid, who suggested a new team member might be able to provide them all they required… this team member was Wetrok’s Robomatic Marvin! After a successful demonstration and trial, Marvin became a permanent member of their team. They became the first school in the region to introduce robotic technology into their cleaning methodology. Ms. Rauma enthuses: “Marvin is a really flexible member of our team. Sometimes Marvin works autonomously, for example on the sports halls, while at other times he works in manual mode with our cleaners. This flexible, hybrid usage model, fits our needs perfectly.”

One big improvement that Marvin brought them is the cleanliness and safety of the sports halls. Before Kempele local authority took over at the school, they were cleaned by the previous contract cleaner just once a week leading to complaints from users of unclean and slippery floors. Using Marvin’s Teach and Repeat functionality, Ms. Annika Heikkala, the responsible cleaner for the sports halls, taught Marvin a 25 minute Teach, cleaning the entire triple sports hall of 1,200 m² in one round. Marvin repeats this clean now daily, in 40 minutes. While Marvin works on the floors, Ms. Heikkala does the more complicated value added cleans in the locker rooms and sanitary areas of the hall. This partnership works perfectly.

 

In addition to the sports halls, Marvin is utilised in the school corridors and general areas, either in autonomous mode or in manual mode. If the floors require cleaning during busier times, when there are many pupils and staff about, Marvin is used in manual mode, but if the areas are quiet then Marvin is deployed autonomously in robotic mode. “Marvin is just so flexible. I have taught him the routes to clean many areas of the school autonomously, but if it’s too busy and the floors need a clean, I take Marvin manually and we do it together.” says Ms. Annika Heikkala.

Ms. Marjo Rauma, the cleaning manager, tells of other benefits utilising Marvin at Linnakangas School. Starting with the job satisfaction of her team. She has seen that by a smarter division of labour, everyone benefits. She explains:“Marvin helps them with the more boring work, such as cleaning floors, while my team can focus on the critical value work, such as surfaces, washrooms and touch points. They think about when and where to utilise Marvin; their reliable partner.” Plus Ms. Annika Heikkala mentioned that although Marvin is cutting edge technology, it remains really easy to use, making it accessible to her whole team as required.

There are a few more people interested in Marvin at the school, the pupils! Cleaner, Ms. Marjo Rauma, thinks it’s funny that now the pupils are more conscious of the cleaning at the school when they see Marvin in action. “When they see Marvin they point, talk and are quite excited. I think it’s great and I think the overall profile of cleaning has been raised, which is a good thing.” She smiles.

 

 

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Learn more about the robot: 
Robomatic Marvin

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