Roombas at the End of the World

Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a everlasting scientific analysis base situated at what’s arguably essentially the most remoted place on Earth. Throughout the austral summer season, the station is dwelling to about 150 scientists and assist workers, however throughout the austral winter, that quantity shrinks to only 40 or so, and people individuals are fully remoted from the remainder of the world from mid-February till late October. For eight months, the station has to outlive by itself, with out deliveries of meals, gasoline, spare elements, or anything. Solely in the most serious of medical emergencies will a aircraft try to succeed in the station within the winter.

Whereas the station’s people rotate seasonally, there are in reality 4 full-time residents: the South Pole Roombas. First, there was Bert, a Roomba 652, who arrived on the station in 2018 and was for a time the loneliest robotic on the earth. Because the station has two flooring, Bert was joined by Ernie, a Roomba 690, in 2019. A second pair of Roombas, Sam and Frodo, adopted quickly after.

These Roombas are on the South Pole to do what Roombas do: assist preserve the flooring clear. However for the individuals who name the South Pole dwelling for months on finish, it seems that these little robots have been ready present some much-needed distraction in a spot the place issues keep kind of the identical all the time, and the place pets, crops, and even dust is explicitly outlawed by the Antarctic Treaty within the identify of ecological preservation.

For the final 12 months, an nameless IT engineer has been blogging about his experiences working first at McMurdo Station (on the Antarctic coast south of New Zealand), and later at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, the place he’s presently spending the winter as a part of the station’s assist workers. His blog contains mundane but fascinating accounts of what day-to-day life is like on the South Pole, together with how showering works (4 minutes per particular person per week), where the electricity comes from (an enormous quantity of aviation gasoline hauled over land from the coast that may energy mills), and the fate of the last egg for five months (over medium with salt and pepper).

The engineer additionally devoted a whole submit to signage at the South Pole, on the very finish of which was this image, which raised some questions for me:

Ernie, a Roomba dwelling on the south pole.brr.fyi

Ernie, it seems, has had a dramatic and infrequently harrowing life on the South Pole station. After Ernie arrived in 2019 to scrub one ground of the station, lore started to develop that Ernie and its accomplice Bert (tasked with cleansing the ground above) had been “star-crossed lovers, forever separated by the impenetrable barrier of the staircase.” That quote comes from Amy Lowitz, a member of the South Pole Telescope workforce, who overwintered at the pole in 2016 and has spent many summers there. “I believe I made that joke yearly when a brand new group of individuals involves the pole for the summer season,” Lowitz tells IEEE Spectrum. “There’s solely so many issues to speak about, so finally the Roombas come up in dialog.” Fortunately for Ernie, Lowitz says that it’s now on the identical ground as Bert, with the brand new Roombas Sam and Frodo teaming up on the ground under.

However Ernie’s presumed pleasure at lastly being united with Bert was to not final—in January of 2020, Ernie went lacking. The Twitter account of the South Pole Telescope posted images pleading for Ernie’s return, and a small memorial appeared at Ernie’s docking station.

SPT

Quickly, issues took a extra sinister (amusingly sinister) flip. Kyle Ferguson is a South Pole Telescope workforce member who was on the station in the summertime of 2020 when Ernie went lacking, and has vivid reminiscences of the drama that ensued:

I imagine it began with only one poster that went up outdoors of the galley, with an image of two individuals calling themselves the Cookie Monsters posing in balaclavas and standing on a staircase holding Ernie. It mentioned one thing like, ‘in the event you ever need to see Ernie alive once more, depart a tray of chocolate chip cookies in such and such location and we are going to return him safely.’ In order that was the preliminary ransom.

SPT

As tends to occur in a neighborhood like this, issues type of took off from there—everyone ran with it in their very own route. So, on that wall outdoors of the galley, there developed a story the place individuals had been making an attempt to mount rescue missions, and there have been enroll sheets for that. And there have been individuals saying, ‘we gained’t negotiate with you till you present proof of life.’

Down the hallway, there was one other narrative the place individuals had assumed the worst: that the abductors had ended poor Ernie’s life prematurely. So the memorial that had sprung up for Ernie subsequent to one of many water fountains grew. There have been pretend flowers and Tootsie rolls, and a few individuals put some trash there, simply in homage—trash that Ernie would by no means have the ability to sweep up. I even ended up writing a parody of the tune ‘5,000 Candles within the Wind’ from Parks and Recreation for Ernie, and singing it at an open mic evening.

SPT

However Ernie did come again. These of us who believed that he had perished (I used to be a kind of) had been within the incorrect. Somebody claimed that the cookies had been delivered, and that the abductors ought to give Ernie again, after which there was a poster that went up that mentioned Ernie was discovered deserted beneath one of many staircases. He was rescued and revived by the Cookie Monsters. So, the abductors type of obtained credit score for saving him ultimately.

Ferguson suspects that Ernie’s “IT WAS SO COLD” sticker was acquired after the robotic’s temporary journey outdoors with the abductors. Summer season temperatures on the south pole common round -28°C, considerably under the working temperature of a Roomba, though after we spoke to Ferguson for this text throughout the South Pole winter, it was nearer to -80°C outdoors the station, together with wind chill.

The tough climate and isolation might assist clarify why Ernie and his Roomba brethren get a lot consideration from the station residents. “There’s extra to do on the South Pole than individuals suppose,” Amy Lowitz tells us, “however you’re nonetheless just about inside a half mile radius of the primary station, all the time. So individuals get somewhat bored and somewhat stir loopy, and we search for new and strange ways to entertain ourselves. The ransom notes had been just a few goofy hijinks from some bored individuals on the South Pole.”

Lowitz additionally remembers a celebration the place both Bert or Ernie was drafted as a DJ, with a Bluetooth speaker and a few fancy lighting. “We had it operating round up on a desk so that folks wouldn’t journey over it,” she recollects. And as lately as this winter, says Kyle Ferguson, a befurred Roomba could possibly be seen on station: “Somebody put up a foolish ‘misplaced cat’ poster earlier within the winter, with an image not even of a cat however of like a raccoon or one thing. After which another person took that and determined to run with it, so that they had this pretend raccoon fur that they put to the highest of one of many Roombas and despatched it out to wander the hallways.”

Sam, the “station cat.”Kyle Ferguson

Overlaying a Roomba with fur could also be getting the robotic somewhat nearer to what individuals on the South Pole are literally lacking, suggests Lowitz: “my guess is that no less than some Polies [i.e. South Pole residents] are into the Roombas as a result of we’re not allowed to have pets on the South Pole, and when there are these little Roombas operating round, it’s type of shut. Folks do odd issues at that altitude [the pressure altitude at the south pole is nearly 3500 meters], and once they miss dwelling… a Roomba is rather like a cute little factor to personify and take note of.”

Ferguson agrees. “All of us miss our pets down right here. Generally we joke about making an attempt to smuggle down a pet or a kitten though it’s an enormous violation of the Antarctic Treaty. One of many issues that I believe provides the Roombas a few of their allure is how they preserve operating into partitions. If I used to be to ascribe a persona to them, it will be sort of dumb and aloof, which evokes a few of these pet reminiscences—possibly just like the time that your canine ate one thing it shouldn’t have.”

A latest image of Ernie, who’s presently dwelling beneath a popcorn machine.Kyle Ferguson

Sadly, we’ve heard that the South Pole Roombas usually are not at their Roomb-iest proper now. They’re not as younger as they was once, and getting spare elements (like new batteries) is simply potential throughout the austral summer season and requires a lead time of six months. We’ll be checking in on Bert, Ernie, Sam, and Frodo in the direction of the top of the 12 months as soon as the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station reopens for the austral summer season. However for now, please benefit from the lyrics to Kyle Ferguson’s Ernie-themed “5000 Candles within the Wind” parody, tailored from ‘5,000 Candles in the Wind’ from Parks and Recreation.

Up in Roomba Heaven, right here’s the factor;