Volvo, Renova – a waste recycling group and students from three universities are working to develop robots that can empty refuse bins with the help of a drone guiding them in the right direction. The driver activates the collection via a button in the cab, and both drone and robots move into action. Once the drone has found a bin, they contact the robot and pass on their location. The robot then moves in and empties the bin. The driver can monitor activities throughout.
The scheme called Robot based Autonomous Refuse handling has students from Penn State, the Chalmers University of Technology and Malardalen University are combining knowledge with the car giant to show that it will soon be possible for machines to pass information to each other.
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Volvo project manager Per-Lage Gotvall says that automation is the future and by testing these ideas and the imagination, there will be the answers to transport issues of the future. The robot has to be programmed so that it is familiar with the area it will be working in. It will use GPS and a system that utilises infrared lights call LIDAR along with cameras and a gyroscope that will allow the robot to find its way and deal with any changes.
Gotvall insists that safety is a primary consideration, and there are sensors included to ensure this. There is a button that will be aware if there is an animal or a child in the way and this will stop the robot as well as cameras to pinpoint people near to the truck.
Story Via; news.volvogroup.com
