Autonomous Working Machines: Mowing robots for the maintenance of road embankments

Under the leadership of AIT, experts from REFORM-WERKE Bauer & Co Gesellschaft m.b.H, Robot Makers, the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences and LINZ AG TELEKOM (LINZ Strom Gas Wärme GmbH) have developed a working machine in the SMARTER project (Slope Maintenance Automation using Real-Time Telecommunication and advanced Environment Recognition). The robotic mower consists of an automated platform called "Metron" to which a mowing machine is connected.

The robotic mower is equipped with robust environmental sensing, advanced sensor technology and real-time telecommunication, enabling it to work autonomously and safely even in difficult terrain and visibility conditions.

Efficient and safe use of automated machines in public spaces

"At AIT, we have many years of experience in the development of robust environment recognition for automated or autonomous work machines and commercial vehicles. We have also created several very large databases of annotated image data of street scenes or open fields. We can use machine learning to increase the intelligence of autonomous systems," says Oliver Zendel, project manager and senior scientist, describing AIT's contribution to the project.

In the future, the technology could be applied to similar systems. Automated tasks such as mowing, snow removal or other municipal applications, but also in logistics, e.g. at airports for driving baggage carts, could be implemented. The SMARTER project is an important step towards autonomous working machines.

SMARTER was funded by the Austrian Ministry of Climate Protection as part of the RTI program "Mobility of the Future" and carried out by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

For more information please check the press release (in German)