Cute robot friends at Thailand airport

I would be willing to bet that these things aren't even necessary and really don't do that great of a job but they do make travelers happy. These beasts are kind of like Roombas but they are much larger, big enough to hurt you should the robot uprising ever happen.

These sweeper robots are all over the place in Thailand airports and they just roam around sweeping. I say that I don't think they are actually needed because there are also people that are doing those jobs as well so it isn't like they are fully automating the airport or anything.

src

Apparently they used to look like this but the public thought they were a bit scary looking. So they changed them to a cutesy and very Asian looking thing. I like them and to make things even better I read a little plaque they had about them where it detailed a bit of their technical aspects. Apparently they know when they are running out of battery and make their way back to their charging dock on their own. They also have sensors all around them so they don't accidentally plow down some kids.

I intentionally stood in front of one of these guys and it spoke to me and apologized. First it said something in Thai that I didn't understand and then in repeated it in very polite English saying something along the lines of "I'm terribly sorry, but could you please give way so I can continue to do my job?" I got a real chuckle out of that.

We need things like this to brighten our days in airports I think because travel has become such a dismal and regimented process over the years. Well done Thailand!