Starting from March, the staff of Oodi will be aided in their work by three mobile robots, or automated guided vehicles, that transport book boxes between the building’s floors. These helpers need names, of course, which is why we organised an open competition for Oodi customers, where anyone could suggest names for these robots. We received roughly 250 suggestions. Oodi employees got the honour of selecting the names for their future colleagues, and the winning suggestion came from 10-year-old Aada Ketomäki with Tatu, Patu and Veera.
Librarian and member of the selection committee Auli Aho gave the reasons for the selection:
“The winning names Tatu, Patu and Veera represent Finnish literature, which is important in a building for literature such as Oodi. The names refer to Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen’s humoristic Tatu and Patu children’s books and create delightful associations. Much like the robots, the characters of Tatu and Patu are active characters from Oddville, which means that these exact names are perfect for the automated guided vehicles in Oodi.”
The short and sweet, easy-to-remember names are practical for the employees in their daily tasks at the library.
“Its pretty convenient just to say to a co-worker that Tatu is wandering aimlessly in the magazine section or that Patu just took the lift downstairs,” Aho envisions.
The third-grader who came up with the winning suggestions, Aada Ketomäki, was inspired by a children’s book she knows very well.
“I thought of Tatu and Patu, because they are a good twosome familiar to everyone, and they’re nice and fun. And I’ve been reading those books. And then I thought of Veera last.”
Ketomäki, who is interested in robots, had seen a robot earlier at the Finnish Science Centre Heureka and intends to come and see Tatu, Patu and Veera when they start working at Oodi.