Robotics release people from repetitive and heavy work to intelligent tasks like communication, quality and design. Robots have been an essential part of industry and daily life for long, with formidable development during the last decade. They are becoming more common in a variety of services, operating not only in heavy industry but increasingly amidst people.
Oulu University Robotics Group studies and develops methods, theories, sensors and platforms for creating mobile robots that are adaptive and capable of performing purposeful tasks in cooperation with humans. Robotics can also be studied in the Oulu University of Applied Sciences. Robotics companies work in close collaboration with the universities – Probot, for example, was specifically established to fulfill the gap between the academic research and industry.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – or software robotics – is a technology for automating digital tasks with software robots, or “bots”, that learn by observing human actions. RPA is expected to cause a major productivity and efficiency increase in global labor market. A well-known example would be the software robotics solution for boosting the vaccination process during the mass Covid vaccinations. It was co-developed by Oulun Digi, City of Oulu healthcare services, and Q-Factory, and saved at least two minutes of work for every vaccination amounting up to 5000 working hours with the approximate 300,000 vaccinations given in Oulu last year.
