Orange Sparkle Ball was
awarded a Real World Deployment Grant from the Michigan Office of
Future Mobility and Electrification for a series of pilots testing
autonomous robotic pickup.
ATLANTA, April 29,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Orange Sparkle Ball, an innovation and impact
accelerator based in Atlanta,
Georgia, announced today it will be launching an Autonomous
Robotic Pickup Platform in Detroit,
Michigan with funding from the Michigan Mobility
Funding Platform (MMFP) provided by the Michigan Office of Future
Mobility and Electrification (OFME). OFME launched the MMFP to
provide support to mobility and electrification companies looking
to deploy their technology solutions in the state of Michigan.
"This pilot program is the latest example of how the state's
commitment to mobility expands beyond the movement of people to
find real world solutions to challenges impacting our communities,"
said Justine Johnson, Chief Mobility
Officer of the State of Michigan.
"The sustainable benefits of investments in mobility solutions
continue to manifest in new, groundbreaking ways and Michigan is proud to be at the forefront of
autonomous robotic pickup with the support of Orange Sparkle
Ball."
Orange Sparkle Ball plans to
build an Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform by conducting a series
of pilots to explore pickup of end-of-life materials. "We're
excited to take our years of experience testing autonomous robotic
solutions and focus on picking up end-of-life materials. And
Detroit is a fantastic place to
deploy these civic infrastructure tests as the city is focused both
on future technology opportunities and the needs of communities,"
says Orange Sparkle Ball's Ashley
Touchton. The company will launch the project by picking up
residential and commercial food waste for composting. This first
test involves Ottonomy, an autonomous robot startup, picking up
food waste in partnership with Detroit composting startup Scrap Soils and
Brother Nature, an urban farm in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood.
Meaghan Kennedy, founder of
Orange Sparkle Ball, explains, "The use of this technology for
pickup has been under investigated, and we're happy to be exploring
expanded use of autonomous robot technology. Additionally, as a
Michigander, I'm particularly proud to be conducting these pilots
in Detroit. The unique expedited
permitting process implemented by the City of Detroit in a first-of-its-kind
Transportation Innovation Zone and the mobility funding platform
from the State of Michigan built
to support startups is allowing us to explore new mobility use
cases in Michigan, partnering with
several Michigan-based technology
companies and community partners."
Orange Sparkle Ball plans to
conduct each phase of the project in the Transportation Innovation
Zone (TIZ) established by the City of
Detroit's Office of Mobility Innovation (OMI) in Corktown.
The project will leverage the expedited permitting process
established by OMI and has already received a permit for the first
pilot.
With years of experience working with startup technology, Orange
Sparkle Ball is well-positioned to build solutions into a civic
tech platform, providing new opportunities for both technology
startups and the community. Further, it is costly, both in terms of
time and money, to provide services to less densely populated
areas, so utilizing autonomous technology provides an exciting
opportunity for the future of city services.
After completing the initial food waste pickup pilot, Orange
Sparkle Ball will continue exploring autonomous pickup tests in
Detroit through the end of 2024.
Following completion of the composting pilot, subsequent tests will
involve several autonomous technology partners, including
Michigan-founded Refraction AI and
Detroit-based Intermode, all with
the goal of understanding how autonomous technology might fill gaps
in city infrastructure while providing for community good.
About Orange Sparkle Ball
Orange Sparkle Ball is an
innovation and impact accelerator sitting at the junction of
research, technology, human-centered design principles, and
organizational goals. Orange Sparkle
Ball creates organization and community-focused innovation
programs, runs data-driven pilots to demonstrate proof of the
future state, creates multi-faceted communication strategies to
stakeholders, and develops environments that support progress
toward metrics or key performance indicators. Experience with
government, industry, startups, public/private partnerships, and
academia allows Orange Sparkle Ball to provide a full ecosystem
approach to customized solutions. For further information, visit
www.orangesparkleball.com.
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SOURCE Orange Sparkle Ball