Volvo is trying to make neighborhood garbage pickup easier—for both refuse truck drivers and residents alike.
According to reports, Volvo is collaborating with the Chalmers University of Technology, Mälardalen University in Sweden, Penn State University and waste-recycling company Renova to develop a robot that interacts with garbage truck drivers, helping to dump the trash. The goal for the ROAR project (Robot-based Autonomous Refuse) is to develop a robotic worker which can collect a trash bin, bring it to the garbage truck and empty its contents without the truck driver having to do any heavy lifting.
"Within Volvo Group we foresee a future with more automation," Per-Lage Götvall, project leader for the Volvo Group, said in a press release statement. "This project provides a way to stretch the imagination and test new concepts to shape transport solutions for tomorrow."
Mälardalens University will head the design of the robot, while Chalmers' students will handle its operating system and Penn State will work on the communication and control panel for the truck driver to use with the robot.
"We're very lucky to have an amazing cohort of students who are well-trained in automation technologies," Sean Brennan, lead of the Penn State team, said. "This project promises great opportunities for our students to not only engage with a cutting-edge vehicle project, but also to help define how society will interact daily with robotic systems."
According to the press release, the technology will be tested on a vehicle developed by Renova in June 2016.
