What is a “building maintenance robot”? Will it solve the human resource shortage?

Table of contents

What is a building maintenance robot?

Building maintenance operations include building cleaning management, satellite management, equipment management, equipment maintenance, etc. In addition to cleaning the floors inside buildings where people come and go every day, we also clean other areas and manage equipment so that customers can spend a comfortable time in the building. Equipment management includes periodic inspections of electrical systems and maintenance and inspection of air conditioning equipment.

Hygiene management also aims to maintain a clean and sanitary condition within a building and prevent the proliferation of germs and pathogens. Specific work includes cleaning water tanks, controlling water quality to prevent the proliferation of Legionella bacteria caused by cooling towers and humidifiers, and exterminating rats and pests. This type of building maintenance work is technically difficult for company employees to perform, and cleaning alone is a burden, so it is often outsourced to contractors.

A building maintenance robot is a specialized robot that performs the building maintenance work described above. It is gradually becoming popular due to the shortage of human resources in the building maintenance industry.

The role of the Japan Building Robot Association, which is responsible for the spread of building robots

The Japan Building Maintenance Robot Council (JB MR C) is an organization responsible for promoting the spread of building maintenance robots. This organization was launched in July 2018 with 14 companies, mainly building maintenance robot manufacturers. This was developed and organized by the Building Maintenance Robot Dissemination Promotion Consortium.

In addition to promoting the spread of building maintenance robots, the council is engaged in activities aimed at research and development through industry-academia collaboration, policy recommendations, and the creation of an environment for the implementation of robots. By increasing the number of members other than robot manufacturers, we are creating a system that allows us to further popularize building maintenance robots while incorporating a variety of opinions.

The organization has established seven working groups based on themes and is working to improve the environment for robot implementation. As part of the study and practical strategies for promoting the spread, the working group is working with the Japan Environmental Management Society to formulate performance evaluation standards for suction-type commercial cleaning robots, and holding robot seminars and hands-on experience with member companies nationwide. We also provide opportunities for them to do so. We also actively participate in exhibitions held in Japan and strive to popularize our products.

Challenges towards introducing building maintenance robots

A major appeal of building maintenance robots is that their power does not decrease even when they are operated for long periods of time. It is also possible to enter places that are inaccessible or dangerous. This allows people to carry out their work without the risk of being involved in an accident. Furthermore, the widespread use of robots is expected to help address the problem of lack of human resources in the industry.

As described above, maintenance robots have various benefits, but on the other hand, there are also challenges in implementing them. Introducing a robot requires not only the cost of the robot itself, but also the electricity and maintenance costs necessary to operate it. Hiring people will incur costs such as personnel costs and training costs, but if you want to introduce a robot, the problem is that it will be difficult to afford unless the cost is equal to or less than the cost of hiring a person.

Another development challenge is that cleaning robots must be able to move precisely and flexibly, such as by holding a mop or cloth in their hands and cleaning while moving them. Movements similar to humans are required, such as using five fingers and walking at the same walking speed as humans.

Regarding development costs, the number of parts required for cleaning robots is about the same as the number of parts required to manufacture a car, so there is the problem that costs will inevitably rise. However, as development technology advances, costs may become lower, so improvements can be expected in both production and installation costs.

Will robots be the basis for cleaning buildings in the future?

In the future, if maintenance robots become widespread, robots will take on the role of cleaning buildings that are currently performed mainly by humans. The main tasks for humans will be to store and repair robots, replace software, and respond to emergency complaints.

As cleaning work is performed mainly by robots, human work time will be reduced, which is expected to alleviate the labor shortage. It is also attractive because it reduces the workload and allows you to avoid dangerous work. Building maintenance can be carried out more efficiently by separating the work that can only be done by humans from the work that can be left to robots.

At the exhibition, you can experience operating a robot. If you are thinking about implementing it in your maintenance work, it would be a good idea to go to the venue and listen to the explanation.

summary

Although there are issues with the introduction of building maintenance robots, such as cost, they play an important role in making up for the shortage of human resources. It is attractive that you can work 24 hours a day and have high productivity. Additionally, robots can perform dangerous tasks with ease. In the future, it will be possible to carry out more efficient building maintenance by separating the work that requires humans from the work that robots are good at.