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Talking robot sweeps Scottsdale streets
Lisa Chiu
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Russell Gates, The Arizona Republic |
Resembling a cross between a snowmobile and a robot, city staff members say the futuristic machine can clean places traditional sweepers miss and save the city money because it uses less fuel. It's also quieter, kicks up less dirt, crushes debris and - oh, yeah - it talks.
Staff members were so enamored with the machine that they bought two. Both made their debut in downtown Scottsdale and Civic Center Plaza on Friday. The money for the machines came from the city's Parks, Recreation and Facilities budget.
"When we took them in the (Civic Center) mall today, people just stared at them like they were waiting for them to get up and fly away," said the city's landscape maintenance supervisor, Don Davis. "They asked, 'What is that? Where did that come from?' "
The machines actually hail from Scotland, where they were developed 35 years ago. Back then they were all painted green and were called "Greenies" by locals. The name stuck, and today they are known as The Green Machine even though the two in Scottsdale are actually white.
Scottsdale is the first city in the Valley to get the machines. Phoenix also has ordered them to clean Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor International Airport.
The machines are popular in Europe and are used in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The company is also the only supplier of sweeping machines to the Queen of England. All the company's machines, including Scottsdale's, bear the Queen's emblem.
It was the machine's robotic look that led it to the silver screen; several Green Machines were featured in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in a scene where Anakin Skywalker uses a machine as cover to escape enemy fire.
But despite Royal and celebrity influences, the machines can be personalized to the city they serve. They have voice chips that can record personal messages or shout pre-programmed statements. City decals can also be added.
The machine's two front brushes spin and push dirt into a vacuum, then through a crusher.
"It can turn a glass bottle into rock sand," salesman Chris Cimini said.
The compact machines can clean under benches and around trees and corners, something Scottsdale was unable to do using its old machine. Before the new purchases, the city used a 7-year-old clunky cleaning machine every day in downtown and the Civic Center.
The new machines are cleaner-burning, too, because they run on diesel fuel. They can also run for 10 hours on two gallons of fuel, compared with six hours for the other machines. Staff members said the machines save money on manual cleaning because they can also power wash streets using cleaning fluids.
"It would take the guys four to five hours to get both sides of the street swept and picked up. This machine does it in an hour just driving down the street," Davis said. "When the bar crowd leaves, it'll be there to pick up litter so when the shop owners and tourists come in (the next day), the streets are clean."
Reach the reporter at lisa.chiu@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7427.
