Three robots will be in charge of cleaning Luis Muñoz Marín Airport

If you plan to visit Luis Muñoz Marín International AirportDon’t be afraid when you see devices roaming autonomously through the hallways, because these are the three robots that will be in charge of cleaning floors in the most high-traffic areas in the country’s main airport facility.

Nelman Nevarez, Director of Operations Aerostar Airport HoldingsThe airport’s private operator specified that the Ilfisk 500 robot, designed by the company Thoreau AI, cost $220,000.

The executive specified that the robots use artificial intelligence (AI) to complete their cleaning tasks, although they can also be used manually. They are capable of sweeping, mapping and vacuuming at the same time.

“When there was a shortage of staff, and given the increase in passengers and air operations, it was very difficult to maintain airport operations with the limited resources we had. One of the things we decided was to look for some help, in this case, that is autonomous and in charge of certain areas, so that human resources can be freed up to take care of others,” Nevarez. expressed in an interview with El Nuevo Día. ,

To find out if robots work, Aerostar tested one robot for six months. He assured that the results were positive.

The devices are equipped with an orientation system that uses sensors to determine the locations they need to travel to, as well as avoid obstacles.

Similarly, robots have the ability to avoid collisions with humans, stopping if someone touches, hits or climbs on them.

According to Aerostar, Robots use text messaging mechanisms to notify the operator of any situation, e.g., if someone has interrupted their work, if they need water or soap, their brush has been damaged or if they Have completed your work.

The robots were distributed in different areas of the airport. One of them covers the public area from the hotel to Terminal A, where JetBlue is based, in addition to serving the baggage claim area.

The second robot will cover Terminals A and B, while the third robot will be in charge of cleaning the floors of Terminals C and D.

In total, the robots will service one million square feet of terrazzo floors. Each corridor can be cleaned in half an hour, the executive said.

When asked whether the purchase of this equipment would lead to the replacement of cleaning staff or any changes to the contract of the cleaning company working at the airport, Nevarez assured that this would not be the case.

“The equipment does not replace human resources, because I need to keep other areas, such as bathrooms, benches or other additional details clean. The machine won’t do that, the machine will take care of the open spaces,” the executive said.

Prime Janitorial, an airport cleaning service provider, views the arrival of robots at the facility as “favorable,” he said.

Prime Janitorial arrived at the airport in 2022, after Aerostar canceled its contract with Perfect Integrated Solutions amid a wave of criticism over the facility’s cleanliness, particularly the bathroom area.

Nevarez assured that, two years later, the situation has improved. The executive said the number of cleaning staff at the airport is 110 people per day, while the budget for these jobs is $7.2 million through 2024.

“We (Aerostar) have an internal complaints system and we immediately attack any complaints we see. What we also do is we reinforce areas of interest, like the bathroom. Now, we can put a resource in there (in the bathroom) more often, because the machine will allow that resource to clean the bathroom more than before,” he said.

The arrival of the robots coincides with an increase in passenger numbers at the country’s main airports. In 2023, it ended with 12.2 million passengers and last January it ended with 1.3 million, numbers that, according to Nevarez, had not been recorded before.

“We’re breaking last year’s record month after month,” Nevarez said. “For February, we see the same trend.”

Similarly, the robots will join the employee-free stores that Management Group Investors (MGI), the company in charge of food and beverage concessions at the airport, plans to open soon.

The first store, whose name was not revealed, will be located in the premises occupied by Vienna in Terminal C of the aforementioned airport facility, as this newspaper previously reported.

The investment will be approximately $700,000 and will operate through the Zippin platform, which uses artificial intelligence, precision cameras and sensors, among other tools, to follow customers and identify the purchases they make.