Robotics in action: How we tested the future with "Wall-E"

Digital Progress with a Human Focus

The pilot project was initiated by Alessandro Ferrante, a master’s student at EPFL and founder of the startup H-Robotics. With technical expertise and a great deal of passion, he oversaw the testing from the very beginning. Among other things, the robot was evaluated for efficiency, autonomy, and user-friendliness. The results were positive: The robot handled both hard floors and carpeted surfaces, navigated steadily, and - most importantly - quickly became a crowd favorite through its interactions with people - some passersby even called it “Wall-E.” “The dust bins were well-filled after every use - which shows that it really works. The PUDU CC1 performed particularly well on hard floors,” said Alessandro Ferrante.

Thank you for your participation

A project like this thrives on participation. A big thank you goes to our colleagues Anabela Gomes dos Santos and Nazlije Asllani, who supported the project at the University Hospital of Lausanne, as well as to Lara Cunha and Maeva Castro Perez, who contributed at EPFL. Their dedication made the test possible and played a crucial role in the evaluation.

Patrick Rohr, Regional Director for Vaud, also draws a positive conclusion:“We conducted the test to assess the current state of this technology. User feedback was consistently positive, and customers were very satisfied with the cleaning quality. Therefore, we would like to take the next step and explore the possibility of a first real-world deployment at the University Hospital of Lausanne.”The robot is a particularly useful addition on hard floors and could help in the future to allocate resources more effectively - for tasks that offer greater value and a human focus.

Nothing works without our employees

Despite all technological advances, one thing remains true: our employees are the heart of ISS. Their experience, their sense of cleanliness and hygiene, and their personal dedication are irreplaceable. Robotics is not intended to replace employees, but to lighten their workload by taking over monotonous or physically demanding tasks. The collaboration between humans and machines creates new opportunities and prepares our teams for the future.