Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a everlasting scientific analysis base situated at what’s arguably probably the most remoted place on Earth. In the course of the austral summer season, the station is residence to about 150 scientists and help employees, however throughout the austral winter, that quantity shrinks to only 40 or so, and people persons 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, gas, spare elements, or anything. Solely in probably the most severe of medical emergencies will a aircraft try to achieve the station within the winter.

Whereas the station’s people rotate seasonally, there are in truth 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 maintain the flooring clear. However for the individuals who name the South Pole residence for months on finish, it seems that these little robots have been in a position present some much-needed distraction in a spot the place issues keep kind of the identical the entire time, and the place pets, vegetation, and even filth is explicitly outlawed by the Antarctic Treaty within the title of ecological preservation.

For the final yr, an nameless IT engineer has been running a blog 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 at present spending the winter as a part of the station’s help employees. His weblog consists of mundane but fascinating accounts of what day-to-day life is like on the South Pole, together with how showering works (4 minutes per individual per week), the place the electrical energy comes from (an enormous quantity of aviation gas hauled over land from the coast that can energy turbines), and the destiny of the final egg for 5 months (over medium with salt and pepper).

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

Ernie, a Roomba residing 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 wash one ground of the station, lore started to develop that Ernie and its accomplice Bert (tasked with cleansing the ground above) have been “star-crossed lovers, perpetually separated by the impenetrable barrier of the staircase.” That quote comes from Amy Lowitz, a member of the South Pole Telescope workforce, who overwintered on 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 beneath.

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.

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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 recollections of the drama that ensued:

I consider it began with only one poster that went up outdoors of the galley, with an image of two folks calling themselves the Cookie Monsters posing in balaclavas and standing on a staircase holding Ernie. It mentioned one thing like, ‘if you happen to ever wish to see Ernie alive once more, go away 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.

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As tends to occur in a group 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 folks have been making an attempt to mount rescue missions, and there have been join sheets for that. And there have been folks saying, ‘we gained’t negotiate with you till you present proof of life.’

Down the hallway, there was one other narrative the place folks 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 folks put some trash there, simply in homage—trash that Ernie would by no means be capable of 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 night time.

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However Ernie did come again. These of us who believed that he had perished (I used to be a type of) have been within the flawed. 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 received credit score for saving him ultimately.

Ferguson suspects that Ernie’s “IT WAS SO COLD” sticker was acquired after the robotic’s transient journey outdoors with the abductors. Summer season temperatures on the south pole common round -28°C, considerably beneath the working temperature of a Roomba, though once 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 could 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 folks assume,” Amy Lowitz tells us, “however you’re nonetheless just about inside a half mile radius of the primary station, the entire time. So folks get a little bit bored and a little bit stir loopy, and we search for new and unusual methods to entertain ourselves. The ransom notes have been just a few goofy hijinks from some bored folks 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 working round up on a desk so that individuals wouldn’t journey over it,” she recollects. And as just 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 they’d 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 a little bit nearer to what folks on the South Pole are literally lacking, suggests Lowitz: “my guess is that not 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 working round, it’s type of shut. Individuals do odd issues at that altitude [the pressure altitude at the south pole is nearly 3500 meters], and after they miss residence… 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 offers the Roombas a few of their appeal is how they maintain working into partitions. If I used to be to ascribe a persona to them, it might be form of dumb and aloof, which evokes a few of these pet recollections—possibly just like the time that your canine ate one thing it shouldn’t have.”

A latest image of Ernie, who’s at present residing beneath a popcorn machine.Kyle Ferguson

Sadly, we’ve heard that the South Pole Roombas will not be at their Roomb-iest proper now. They’re not as younger as they was once, and getting spare elements (like new batteries) is simply attainable 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 yr 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 within the Wind’ from Parks and Recreation.

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