The garbage industry is going high tech, with the help of Volvo.
The automaker this week debuted an autonomous garbage truck it said has the potentail to reduce emissions and increase safety in the industry. Volvo is currently testing the vehicle with the help of Swedish waste management and recycling company Renova, and said it may one day be used across urban environments.
Volvo's automated garbage truck can navigate obstacles more accurately than humans, since it never gets distracted or stressed. With its many cameras and sensors, the truck also has a better view of the road than a human would. Sensors continuously monitor the area around the truck, which will stop immediately if an obstacle (like a rogue basketball from the neighborhood kids' game) suddenly appears in its path.
The autonomous garbage truck shouldn't eliminate the need for human workers (you don't want one of these situations). Instead, the two will work in tandem—the human focused on trash collection, and the vehicle focused on driving, Volvo said. This means the human will no longer have to climb into and out of the cab every time the truck moves to a new bin.
"One important benefit of the new technology is a reduction in the risk of occupational injuries, such as wear in knee joints—otherwise a common ailment among staff working with refuse collection," Volvo's Chief Technology Officer Lars Stenqvist said in a statement.
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The truck also offers "major environmental upsides," Volvo said, since "gear changing, steering and speed are constantly optimized for low fuel consumption and emissions."
Volvo plans to test the autonomous truck with Renova through the end of the year.
"There is amazing potential to transform the swift pace of technical developments in automation into practical benefits for customers and, more broadly, society in general," Stenqvist said. "Our self-driving refuse truck is leading the way in this field globally, and one of several exciting autonomous innovations we are working with right now."