Volvo has started testing a prototype program called ROAR (RObot based Autonomous Refuse handling) which is about automatic garbage collection.
The ROAR system is designed to automatically pick up garbage bins on the streets of a city. This is the automation of the work currently carried out by two people who carry the rubbish bins from the sidewalks to the waste bin and discharge them into it.
The program foresees the use of all available aids, such as the use of robots, the mapping of a neighborhood that includes the possible location of waste bins, GPS, LiDAR, accelerometers as well as a drone that takes off from the roof of the garbage truck and acts as a pair of "eyes" in the sky".
Η Volvo collaborated with three universities - Chalmers University of Technology, Mälardalen University and Penn State University - to design and build the prototype ROAR in just four months.
In a statement, Per-Lage Götvall, director of the robot development program at the Volvo Group, said: “We envision a future with more automation. The project aims to stimulate our imagination, to try new ideas that can form solutions for the transport of the future ".
At first glance, one would say that this program eliminates two jobs, but on the other hand it creates some others that are needed to build and maintain these robots and whether we want it or not, automation and robotic technology will not be late become part of our everyday life.
See a relevant one below video of tests to imagine how the garbage will be collected from the streets in a few years:
