Street Sweepers From Roomba and GM Cruise Origin, What Could Go Wrong?
GM’s Cruise Origin program faied, but that could be a new opportunity. The failed autonomous vehicle taxis could easily be used to clean up the streets. This is a common theme in many political circles, although most politicians refer to reducing crime, not actually cleaning the streets. What might happen if GM fits Cruise Origin autonomous vehicles fitted iRobot Roomba cleaning technology?
Budget cuts sent Cruise Origin vehicles to storage
Recent budget cuts to the self-driving technology required to make the Cruise Origin robotaxis function properly caused the company to send these vehicles into storage. This company could have been the self-driving answer to ride-hailing and mobility services. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case in the near future.
Instead of driving people around, these self-driving cars will run around on city streets, cleaning up debris and trash along the way.
How can these vehicles become street sweepers?
The team at iRobot will provide the vacuum equipment for these new Cruise Roombas. The Roomba brand name will appear on them. This should give a bit of authority to these sweepers as they move about the city. The vacuum hardware and autonomous vehicle technology should allow these electric-powered sweepers to clean streets 24/7.
In addition to advanced vacuum tech, the Cruise vehicle will have an inflatable 360-degree rubber bumper to add a layer of protection for parked vehicles and curbs.
What could go wrong with autonomous street sweepers?
A small round cleaning robot making its way around your house can be terrorizing enough. These little robot vacuums are known to get stuck in corners, bump into things repeatedly, and make the household cat go nuts.
Now, take those challenges and put them on a much grander scale. The GM Cruise Origin vehicles are large enough for four people to sit inside them. They could terrorize motorists in many cities. Imagine returning to your parked car to find black marks along the lower side panels from the rubber bumper rubbing up against your car.
Another challenge could be getting away from these autonomous street sweepers. What if they bump their way down the street and spend several minutes stuck on your car? You might end up with several dents from the continuous abuse of these vehicles.
Imagine the size of the cats this thing could terrorize.
It’s just a joke
Historically, automotive companies love to put out false information on April 1 as an April Fool’s Joke, and this is one of them. Don’t worry: Cruise Origin Roombas won’t be terrorizing your city streets anytime soon.
Source: GM Authority
