Cleaning bots have become a regular sight on London's concourses — and now they're getting names.
Heathrow Airport has a fleet of 20 autonomous cleaning robots, or 'cobots' (the UK's largest fleet, no less) which roam the terminals, keeping the floors — equivalent to the size of eight football pitches each per day — spick and span.
Now, the airport is inviting members of the public to come up with names for each cobot; on 16 December a shortlist will go live for a public vote, the winning names later appearing on name badges stuck to each cobot.
What to call them? Glossing over 'Robot McRobotface', how about combining cleaning products with Heathrow destinations: Cillit Bangkok? Mr Mu-Sicily?
While it's all in the name of fun (and free publicity for the airport; you're welcome Heathrow) some may see this move to 'personify' the insentient housekeepers as another step on the way to sacrificing human jobs in the name of cost-cutting. Certainly, whoever pinned an angry note to a cleaning robot we spotted at Charing Cross station earlier this year (see above) will not take Heathrow's stunt so lightheartedly. There are, however, still some 850 human cleaning staff working alongside Heathrow's cobots.
Personally, we'll start worrying when we receive a press release saying members of the public are being asked to name a new cohort of autonomous pilots.
