Volvo’s Trash-Emptying Robot Finally Becomes Reality
Preliminarily testing of automated sanitation machine is a success
We recently wrote about ROAR: RObot-based Autonomous Refuse Handling. The vision for the project is to eliminate the need for humans to perform heavy-lifting during garbage collection. The system has two main parts: robots that can transport trash bins and a connected garbage truck where a garbage man controls the robots on a dashboard.
Now, the results are in: The proof of concept worked. Students from three universities collaborated with the Volvo Group and the waste recycling company, Renova. The company recently unveiled a video testing the project.
Here’s how this system would operate in the real world.
A drone on the roof of the refuse truck scans the area and assists the robot to find the bins:
It picks up your garbage, and it takes it to the truck.
The robots don’t look like humanoids, but this is just the prototype testing phase. The purpose of ROAR is to demonstrate how we, in the near future, will use smart machines to assist with a broad range of activities in society. This technology can be applied in many areas. The collection of waste is just one example.
ROAR: RObot-based Autonomous Refuse Handling
Originally published at www.psfk.com on March 1, 2016.