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Rise Of The Robots — UK First AI Checks In At Isle Of Wight Travelodge Hotels

An army of robots have checked into two Travelodge hotels on the Isle of Wight today (Wednesday).

In a UK first, dozens of RoboVac Buddies have entered the company’s two facilities in Ryde and Newport.

A multi-million pound investment has created 7,500 RoboVac Buddies specifically designed to support the company’s housekeeping teams, who have to clean around 44,000 rooms every day.

To help lighten the workload for its housekeeping team members, who collectively vacuum the distance from Newport to New York on a daily basis, Travelodge transported into a brave new world with its industrial AI.

The hotel chain teamed up with KILLIS Ltd, a Sheffield based company that specialises in manufacturing cleaning equipment. Together they engineered the UK’s first industrial robotic vacuum device designed specifically for a busy hotel.


The laborious mission took nine months to complete and included the production of five prototypes before the birth of the Travelodge RoboVac Buddy.

A Buddy has been allocated to each housekeeping team member to support them during their shift.

Lira Namoni, Travelodge RoboVac Buddy trainer, said:

"They have now all completed their induction training and passed their probation and are raring to get to work."

"There have been a couple of casualties during training — a Buddy at Gatwick Airport Travelodge took a wrong turn and was found in Spain.

"Another at the Cambridge Orchard Park Travelodge had a technical glitch during its reception cleaning shift and bolted out of the hotel onto the streets!"

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