Future refuse truck drivers aided by Robots and Drones
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A robotic refuse lorry has been prototyped by leading Swedish multinational manufacturing company situated in Gothenburg.
The technology behind the robot rubbish truck is controlled by an overhead drone and will be able to retrieve garbage bins, empty them into the rubbish truck without the need of any human intervention.
The drone locates bins and the robot leaves the bin truck, collecting the bins without the driver having to step out the vehicle. However, Britain’s “bin men” should not feel threatened about losing their jobs just yet.
ROAR, or Robot-based Autonomous Refuse handling system was developed by a strategic collaboration between giants, Volvo, recycling company Renova, Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, and Malardalen University, Penn State , USA) was developed.
The system is intended to remove the need for a bin lorry driver to exit the vehicle to pick up refuse. Instead, a drone launches from the top of the lorry, scans the area below and identifies the target bins.
A robot is then sent out to fetch the bin, transport it back to the truck and then attach it at the emptying apparatus found at the back of the truck. The robot then places the bin in its original location and proceeds in the direction of the next garbage bin that has been sought out by the drone.
“We predict a future with more automation. Says Per-Lage Gotval, the project manager behind the development at Volvo.
“For us at the Volvo Group, the safety aspect forms the basis of everything we do. Accordingly, many of the robot’s sensors are also used to ensure safety.”
Progress of the drone and bot can be monitored by the of the bin truck using live feeds from cameras on the truck with the option for manual control when needed. An automated safety system using cameras and sensors is built in to track nearby people entering the area to stop the bot, should it become hazardous.
The ROAR system was designed and developed to prototype-testing phase in 4 months by thirty five students across the 3 academies,
“This project is intended to stimulate our imagination, to test new concepts that may shape transport solutions of the future.” Said Götvall
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