Driving heavy machinery can be repetitive and dangerous, making it difficult to find workers. Finnish Universities develop intelligent control systems that improve productivity and address the labor shortage.
People quickly became accustomed to the friendly-looking food delivery robots of grocery stores. According to Tomi Westerlund, a professor of robotics and autonomous systems at the University of Turku, we will soon grow comfortable with robots as coworkers as well.
In the field of robotics, there's a saying: “dull, dirty, and dangerous.” According to Westerlund, such tasks will soon be taken over by robots instead of humans. This is good news for both the economy and workplace safety.
Historically, unsafe jobs have been performed by the lower-skilled working class. As education and living standards have risen, there are fewer people willing to take on such tasks. In Finland, the labor shortage is further exacerbated by demographic changes and growth in the industrial sector.
According to Westerlund, Finland must quickly either attract a significant amount of foreign labor for various tasks or adopt new, more efficient working methods. Otherwise, growth will stagnate, and society will struggle to properly maintain basic services like waste management.
Fortunately, the development of mobile work machinery is progressing rapidly in Finland. Mechanical labor is being outsourced to autonomous machines, allowing humans to focus on oversight and management of the overall processes. This enhances both comfort and safety.
Westerlund doubts that the widespread adoption of robots will cause significant resentment among those whose work lives are affected. Once people become accustomed to robots handling unpleasant tasks and their own roles become more comfortable, few will yearn for the past.
Finns are also quick to embrace new inventions, Westerlund says. Food delivery robots became instant favorites, given way in traffic and helped out of snowdrifts during winter.
Robots Take Over the Streets?
Westerlund doesn’t predict what types of large machinery will be in use in ten years. A decade is a long time in technological development, and many factors influence one another, he explains.
What he can predict is that human presence in the cabs of work machines will decrease. This could mean, for instance, that one operator monitors ten autonomous tractors simultaneously. To some extent, such development is already a reality.
Robot tractors have already started being sold in Finland. According to Westerlund, it will take some time to get used to their appearance, as they lack the upper section typically reserved for the operator—meaning that future children may play with toy tractors that have no cab at all.
Robot work machines are unlikely to be seen in the streets just yet. Navigating a field is much easier than maneuvering down Hämeenkatu, Westerlund explains. However, development is rapid. Researchers at the University of Turku have created a drone that can fly autonomously indoors and locate radiation sources in a closed nuclear power plant.
Westerlund believes the next step in the development of everyday technology may involve food delivery robots transitioning from land to air. The same technologies could also be applied to larger machines than drones. This could streamline logistics for minerals and timber using large autonomous work machines.
Roadmap Leads the Way
Currently, the development of large mobile work machines is being accelerated by a roadmap created by the SIX cluster. This roadmap is constantly updated to indicate what companies and researchers are doing and why. This way, key players stay informed about each other's activities and needs.
The roadmap has been developed by six key players in the research field: Aalto University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, University of Oulu, Tampere University, University of Turku, and the research institute VTT. Additionally, many Finnish companies from the large mobile work machines sector have participated in its creation.
Thanks to the Platform of Excellence (PoE), the development of the sector is also being funded through the Academic Fellows model. Westerlund praises this initiative for facilitating networking and increasing the visibility of work. He says that companies also pose valuable research questions that may not be obvious within the academic bubble.
This way, the roadmap ensures that universities train the workforce that companies genuinely need. This helps keep the wheels of work machines and Finland's economy turning.
This text is part of a series on the Mobile Machines Platform of Excellence (PoE) network, exploring six themes. The other five themes are autonomy and robotics, the new value of data, machine collaboration, sustainable energy solutions, and humans in the loop.
The themes are based on a roadmap developed by the SIX Mobile Work Machines cluster. The cluster is coordinated by Tamlink and includes Ponsse, Epec, Sandvik, Valmet Automotive, Valtra, Kalmar, Normet, Tana, Nokia, Danfoss, Junttan, Hevtec, Cargotec, VTT, and Tampere University.
The texts are part of an EAKR-funded project called the Twin transition of mobile work machines (SIX-PoE).
Tomi Westerlund is a senior member of the engineering organization IEEE. He is currently investigating how to enable robots to move autonomously in swarms while responding to their surrounding environment.
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