by Brianna Crandall — December 23, 2016 — In recent weeks, global facilities services provider ISS introduced the use of a cleaning robot at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden. The RA 660 Navi robot follows a daily routine covering 99 different areas of the 8000 m2 facility, all of which are stored in its memory. If it is unable to access an area, it will remember and return later to clean the spot.
Equipped with a unique patented navigation system, three cleaning brushes (or pads) and a suction unit, RA 660 Navi scrubs and vacuums independently, with high efficiency, at any time of day. The cleaning robot works independently for two hours before its water has to be refreshed and three hours before its battery has to be changed.
ISS Sweden is using the RA 660 Navi cleaning robot to improve cleaning efficiency and thereby reduce the spread of diseases on Uppsala University Hospital wards.
After testing in spring, the RA 660 Navi is now operational and overseen by three ISS Sweden employees certified to manage the robot.
Leif Persson, head of Cleaning Excellence ISS Sweden, commented;
The technology is now so mature that it can fulfill our high standards for cleaning. At ISS, we are continually developing our cleaning services to make our work ever more ergonomic and economical. We assess how new technologies can contribute to those improvements. And when humans and machines work well together, we’re able to raise our services to even higher levels.
Christian Johansson, account manager for Healthcare at ISS, added:
We are thrilled that the University Hospital is just as interested as we are in developing cleaning services in an innovative way. ISS wants to drive the development of cleaner hospital environments where patients do not suffer from diseases contracted on wards, and we see technological innovation as a very important tool to achieve that.
Sofia Holmquist, cleaning and ward controller at Uppsala University Hospital, concluded:
The most important thing for us is that the hospital environment is as clean as possible, and it feels great that we together with ISS are the first in Sweden to rely on innovative robotics to make it possible.
For more information about the RA 660 Navi cleaning robot, including a short demo video, visit the Cleanfix Web site.
