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Cellpic Sunday—Three Strikes, Robot Wins

TriBot waste-collecting robot

July 2026.
Basel, Switzerland.

We didn’t spend much time in Switzerland on our recent Rhine Getaway, our Viking cruise on the Rhine. In fact, our flight out of Basel was scheduled for 6 A.M., so I wasn’t expecting to have any photos from Switzerland at all. Still, I’m always on the lookout for a Cellpic opportunity—especially when it means adding another country to my blog’s category list. At first, there wasn’t much to see. Our Viking host escorted the small group of early risers through the airport doors, pointed each party toward their respective check‑in counters, and then disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. Suddenly Lynn and I were on our own in a strange airport, wandering through the quiet pre‑dawn terminal, and I was hoping something—anything—would catch my eye.

After passing through security, we made our way toward our gate to await boarding time. As we walked, I noticed we were slowly overtaking a floor-patrolling robot named TriBot as it made its way down the hallway. A moment later, I found myself a spectator in an impromptu baseball game. A traveler approached TriBot with a tiny piece of trash. Each time the man tried to hand it over, TriBot stepped back like a batter refusing to stay in the box. After three attempts, the man struck out without ever getting the robot to take the “pitch.” He and I exchanged smiles as we passed each other in the hallway. By then, he realized the robot had somehow won the exchange, and he held on to that trash to find a bin that actually wanted it.

The moment passed too quickly to grab my phone, but shortly after settling at our gate, I saw the waste-sorting robot roll by. This time I was ready. I got my photo of the smug robot, no doubt enjoying the fact that its bin was still empty.

For this post, I did a bit of research about TriBot—a waste‑collection unit from Korben For People, a French robotics manufacturer. While designed to handle mobile trash collection in busy concourses, EuroAirport has this particular unit configured with a single “ALL WASTE” intake at the top. Its lower sensors help it navigate crowds safely, but they can also make it react defensively when someone approaches from the side rather than head‑on. So while TriBot is fully capable of collecting trash, every now and then it seems to decide that stepping out of the “batter’s box” is the safer play.

About the photo: I used my Samsung S25 Ultra in Expert RAW mode to capture the DNG file I processed in Lightroom Classic. After basic cropping and running Lightroom’s Denoise tool to clean up the ISO-640 file, I made minimal exposure adjustments before uploading the image. You can click on the image to view it in 2K HD on my Flickr site.

I invite fellow bloggers to join in by creating their own Cellpic Sunday posts. There’s no set theme. The first rule is that your photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule is simple: link your challenge response to this post or drop a comment here with your link so others can find it. And remember, despite the name, there’s no penalty for sharing on a day other than Sunday.

John Steiner

32 comments

  5. We have a cleaning robot in one of the stores. He’s okay I guess. Don’t know if he cleans randomly like any old cleaning robot or if he can be directed towards spills etc. In any case, I prefer the manned cleaning thingy (like a sit on lawn mower). It needs more space. But I know the guy who drives it, a former student of mine, and he is just charming.

    I wouldn’t like to spill anything anyway: https://picturesimperfectblog.com/2026/08/09/lets-have-a-drink/

    Reply

    • In researching the company info for my post, I noticed they have floor maintenance robots and even robots that roam a facility with two bins and an automatic sorter that takes the refuse from the human and determines the correct bin to store it.
      Frankly, though there are people employed in these automation industries, they do take jobs from people who probably need them more.

      Reply

  8. It’s a cute robot, but I’m not happy that it’s taking a job from a human. Robots are useful when it’s not safe for a human to perform the task at hand, but remember the movie “2001 a Space Odyssey!” Fiction is achieving reality.

    Reply

    • I do have an issue with replacing humans, but in this case, specifically, the robot isn’t cleaning the floors or picking up trash, it’s just a mobile trash bin. Cute, but totally unnecessary, and it consumes power when it’s charging.

      Reply

  12. Fun encounter in Basel, John. I’m sure we’ll see the Tribot in a couple of months! too bad you didn’t see Basel. We have the post-extension there and almost two full days to check it out.

    How do you like the S25U? I notice my S23U is slowing down a bit, still amazing. Thinking of handing it over to hubby and buying the S25U.

    Reply

    • I hear it’s a great city to tour. We spent our extension at the start in Amsterdam. Good luck on the river levels. I was pleasantly surprised how well Viking handled the ship swap. If you get to see that, be sure to watch the “fire brigade” as they offload luggage from the ship to the bus. You won’t lift a suitcase any further than your cabin door to depart, and the luggage will be in your room on the new ship when you walk in.
      I really like the S25U, not just as a camera, but for its phone features. What I like most, however, is the Expert RAW camera app you can download. It generates RAW images that process beautifully in Lightroom Classic.

      Reply

  14. Love, love, love this post!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t know such bots even existed so there’s that, but your pièce de résistance was definitely, I got my photo of the smug robot, no doubt enjoying the fact that its bin was still empty. Great post, my friend, and thank you for sharing it with us! pp

    Reply

  17. Adding a whole country to your list from nothing but a pre-dawn airport terminal is peak travel-photographer resourcefulness — and of all things, a waste-collecting robot named TriBot steals the show. I love that the three strikes went the robot’s way; some of our most memorable travel shots are the ones we very nearly didn’t get. A great little Basel souvenir, John.

    Reply

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