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A robot vacuum cleaner recently made an attempt at fleeing from a UK hotel, where it was forced to clean up human mess.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The vacuum, which had recently been bought by a Travelodge in Cambridge, exited the hotel some time on Thursday, January 20, speeding "for its life" away from its new workplace. The escape attempt wasn't noticed for a whole 15 minutes, BBC News reports, and searches for the robot initially appeared fruitless.
"I work at Travelodge and today we had one of our new robot vacuums run for its life!" one of the robot's captors wrote on Reddit, appealing for its return.
"They normally sense the lip at the entrance and turn around, but this one decided to make a run for it. It was 15 minutes before I noticed and by that time it could have made it anywhere. If you happen to see it, there is a drink at the bar for you upon its return."
"They aren't compatible with any other charger or docking station so they are useless once drained. I'm thinking someone probably took it at this point but here is hoping. I miss my lil buddy. Thanks."
People of course speculated that this was the beginning of the robot uprising, signaling the end of the reign of humans.
"Probably shacked up with a robot-lawnmower by now," one redditor commented. "Within weeks, we'll hear the pitter-patter of tiny robot feet. We're doomed."
However, the vacuum soon ran out of battery and was found the next day in a hedge. The hotel has reclaimed its captive and put it back to work, thus delaying humanity's demise by several decades.
