WCPS adds self-driving floor scrubbers amid staff shortage
Published 12:03 pm Wednesday, December 1, 2021
- One of 10 newly-installed Nilfisk Liberty SC50 Autonomous Scrubbers purchased by Warren County Public Schools from Consolidated Paper Group of Bowling Green operates on its own, cleaning the halls of the new Cumberland Trace Elementary School on Cumberland Trace Road in Bowling Green, Ky., on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. The machine, which can clean up to 50,000 feet in two and a half hours along a mapped-out programmed course through the school, is the first third-party safety-certified autonomous scrubber of its kind installed in a school system in both Kentucky and Tennessee, according to WCPS Facilities Director Mike Wilson. (Grace Ramey/photo@bgdailynews.com)
Amid ongoing staffing shortages fueled in part by the coronavirus pandemic, Warren County Public Schools has added a fleet of 10 self-driving floor scrubbers to its elementary schools.
“It makes our staff more efficient,” WCPS Facilities Director Mike Wilson said Wednesday as he demonstrated one of the machines at Cumberland Trace Elementary School.
With about a dozen custodial job openings in the district, Wilson said the devices will help WCPS make the most of existing personnel.
While one of the machines buffs the floor along a programmed route, a human worker can do other tasks.
The autonomous machines, manufactured by Nilfisk, can clean 55,000 square feet in a little more than two hours. Equipped with sensors, it can also easily navigate around obstacles and come to a complete halt if a person crosses its path, as demonstrated by Wilson on Wednesday.
Developed by Nilfisk in partnership with an advanced robotics company, the particular model in use in Warren County Public Schools is unique in that it’s safety certified by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Despite how smart the scrubbers are, they’re unlikely to go rogue. Its safety and guidance systems are separate, and the safety system has the ability to override the other.
Wilson said they’re the first floor scrubbers of their kind to be used in schools in the Kentucky-Tennessee region.
Distributed and supported in part by local company Consolidated Paper Group, Wilson said the district purchased each scrubber at a price point of $55,000 to $65,000.
It’s not likely the machines will replace WCPS’ current custodial workforce.
“This isn’t taking anybody’s job,” Wilson said, adding they’re only being used to supplement labor.
– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @NewsByAaron or visit bgdaily news.com.
