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Europe's First Mobile Robotic Bin-on-Call

ICT Results (07/19/10)



Researchers working on the European Union-funded DustBot project have built a robot for on-demand trash collection that is well suited for use in the historic centers of many European cities and towns. The researchers say that these locations are often a web of streets that are narrow, pedestrianized, or otherwise inaccessible to vehicles, but the robot can navigate the narrowest of alleys to remove trash right from a resident's door. DustBot project coordinator Paolo Dario says the robot, called DustCart, is mounted with cameras and other sensors designed to help it avoid collisions, and it uses a triangulation system to navigate its way to homes. DustCart has three levels of intelligent control--autonomous, built-in systems including motion sensing, obstacle avoidance, and user-interface functions; the ambient intelligent environment, which supervises the robot; and the human control center, which monitors operations but only intervenes in an emergency. "We've taken the very best and most advanced robotics components to build DustCart, which solves a very real problem for waste authorities across Europe," Dario says. "Yes, it is a bin on wheels--there's the drawer in which you place your bag of rubbish or recycling--but there's a lot more to the robot than that."

(from ACM TechNews)