Over the next two weeks, metro users are likely to come across a strange device wandering the corridors of the Berri-UQAM station. This is Neo, an autonomous cleaning robot that looks like a Zamboni and that the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has undertaken to test.
The device from the company Avidbots based in Kitchener, Ontario, travels through the congested corridors of the Berri-UQAM station to clean the floor, without the direct intervention of an employee. When its sensors detect an obstacle or a person in its path, Neo automatically stops and considers a new route before restarting and continuing its work.
The device has already been tested at the STM’s Crémazie garage, but the transport company wanted to put it to the test in a more challenging environment. “We want to test the effectiveness of floor cleaning in an operating metro station and in a winter context,” explains Renaud Martel-Théorêt, public relations advisor at the STM. “This will allow employees to concentrate on other tasks while the robot does its work. »
The STM indicates that the Berri-UQAM metro station was chosen for these tests because of its size and its architectural configuration which includes several variations at ground level, which will make it possible to evaluate its behavior.
The STM does not yet know whether it will acquire such devices. But on site, Stéphane Garceau, foreman, valorization and performance at the STM, judges the first tests to be promising.
“It works,” he said. Some users don’t even look at it, but others stop and ask us questions. »
“In eight hours, the presence of the robot allows a lot more work to be done,” said Sergio Pereira, representative of the company Avidbots who supervised the work of his robot on Wednesday.
A maintenance employee encountered in the metro station told Duty that the robot did not threaten his job and that on the contrary, its presence will allow him to devote himself to other tasks. “There are tasks that the robot cannot do,” he said. Neo is notably incapable of cleaning the stairs.
The STM also ensures that thanks to artificial intelligence, the robot knows the configuration of the station and can determine the most efficient route to carry out its cleaning work. He will therefore not throw himself down the stairs since he has mapped the place, explains Renaud Martel-Théorêt.
In February 2023, the STM tested the capabilities of Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog, programmed to spot anomalies in metro stations over the course of a summer.