G5 use analysis
In this analysis we will first sketch the ideal operation of the robot: its functionality and deployment. Then we will analyse the effects and implications of the robot for each of the following stakeholders: Municipalities, citizens and people working in the public maintenance sector, society as a whole, enterprises specializing in maintenance.
Functionality and deployment The robot operates on sidewalks, which it keeps clean and safe. It picks up litter, removes weeds and leafs, clears snow or ice and cleans the tiles. It operates only on sidewalks and avoids any objects or humans or animals on the sidewalk. It charges at a charging station, located somewhere in the vicinity, and will charge when necessary. It operates 24/7, 365 days per year, independent of the weather. It does not require human interaction to operate after initial installation, and possible maintenance, however it can call for a human to come and assess the situation in case something is hindering it or its operation. It communicates with a server about its status and the tasks it has and is performing.
Stakeholders Municipalities: For municipalities the robot is a cheaper, more efficient and reliable way to maintain the sidewalks at all time. It reduces the overhead of delegating and managing workers by operating fully autonomously, increasing the productivity of the municipalities as well. The robot allows municipalities to allocate resources, including workers and money, to more important matters, for example doing groceries for elderly people, or helping them in other ways, seeing as there is a lack of such workers due to the aging of society. A potential downside of the robot is the upfront cost of the robot and the infrastructure it requires, but this will be more cost effective after some time.
Citizens and people working in the public maintenance sector: For citizens, the robot means a cleaner, healthier environment, which will increase happiness. Moreover, the people previously working in the maintenance sector will be allocated to other, more important or difficult jobs, which might improve their happiness even further. The robot is less noticeable, both visually and audibly, than a (group of) maintenance worker(s), reducing potential annoyance. Finally, the robot will make sure that people do not have to take care of the sidewalk near their house anymore, which previously could lead to situations where people slipped over snow or ice and the house owner could be held responsible. Overall this will increase happiness. The downside of the robot is that people have to keep the robot in mind when walking about on the sidewalks, potentially having to walk around them, but this is not a big effort and is hardly a reason to not deploy the robot.
Society: From the two stakeholders above, we can already deduce a couple of advantages for society: More happiness and health, and a more productive workforce in both municipalities and any sector where the ex-maintenance workers are working now. One downside for society is the people might get more lazy and stop picking up litter or leafs etc. or will actually start littering more, care must be taken to punish litterers more severely. Also, if vandals destroy or steal a robot or a charging station, the costs can become very expensive, so a nice environment is required for the successful deployment of the robot.
Enterprises specializing in maintenance: While such enterprises may see their income drop due the deployment of the robots, there will still be plenty of work as the robot is limited to the sidewalk. Alternatively, the enterprise might decide to deploy robots of its own, and improve its performance or income as a result.
Overall, the robot is a useful addition to society, increasing happiness and productivity, and helps in relieving the worker shortage in other sectors.