{"id":88080,"date":"2019-05-29T17:52:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T15:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.ferrovial.com\/?post_type=inforvial&p=88080"},"modified":"2022-12-20T18:12:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T17:12:04","slug":"innovation-finland-robotics","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/newsroom.ferrovial.com\/en\/articles\/innovation-finland-robotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Finland: Innovating in the country of 1,000 lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Finland is one of the most highly-valued places in the world. And this is not only because of its education system, but also its human capital, high social satisfaction indices and its economy, one of the most competitive around the globe. This Nordic country has been synonymous to innovation<\/strong> for years. In 2018, the\u00a0Consumer Technology Association (CTA)<\/a>\u00a0acknowledged it as the most innovative country in the world. Yet, just like everything else involving Finland, the award was hardly granted by chance. Helsinki<\/strong> has been rewarding and providing incentives for decades for initiatives to create more sustainable and efficient cities<\/strong> as well as arenas for founders of newly-established companies and investors to meet such as its Slush<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Junction Hackathon<\/a> technology events. To this end, the organization responsible for accelerating digital change,\u00a0Global Startup Ecosystem<\/a>, ranks Helsinki as the best place in the world to facilitate these local connections<\/strong> although the Nordic country also brings in foreign investment.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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With the program Finnish Startup Permit<\/a>, Finland is also promoting foreign investment<\/strong> within its borders by making it easier for non-EU entrepreneurs to launch their own startup in the country.<\/p>\n

Robots learning to classify waste<\/h2>\n

Zenrobotics<\/a>\u00a0is one of those companies. Founded in 2007, this Finnish company was the first in the world to apply robotics and artificial intelligence<\/strong> mechanisms to waste processing<\/strong>. Its CEO, Wolfgang Schiller, who holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, IT and Telecommunications says: \u201cRobots support our strategy in seeking to improve the performance of waste treatment and materials recovery plants. In combination with AI, robots allow unique recognition and sorting capabilities. This technology allows our customers to recover more materials with a higher quality while minimizing the risk of accidents involving people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up until a few months ago, Zenrobotics had focused the scope of action with its technology on construction and demolition waste. However, it made a qualitative jump in its strategy in January by starting off with a project alongside Ferrovial Services<\/a><\/strong> to check the feasibility of these robotic classification systems at urban waste treatment plants.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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The robot, which was installed at the\u00a0Ecoparc 4<\/a>\u00a0plant in Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona, is equipped with sensors that continuously monitor the flow of waste while an artificial intelligence module analyses and assimilates the information captured by these sensors in real time<\/strong>. Thus, the articulated robotic arms collect fractions of waste of varying shapes, sizes and materials at a speed of up to 10,000 pix.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with Ferrovial\u2019s technical team we have recognized that robotic sorting technology can be deployed to several places in the MSW process: to the quality control<\/strong>, oversize lines<\/strong>, reject reduction<\/strong>,\u201d explained Schiller. \u201cRobots allow further process advancements and in consequence lead to higher level of automation, flexibility and reduced processing costs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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\n The project that Ferrovial is developing along wth Zenrobotics is supported by Climate-KIC, the EU\u2019s main initiative on climate change. <\/blockquote>\n\n