Robot Steps into the Shoes of a Host at the Olkiluoto Visitor Centre
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has been using a cleaning robot named TahVO at its headquarters for the second year now. Feedback on the robot from RTK, which is responsible for cleanliness services at Olkiluoto, has been consistently positive. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the robot is now being given new responsibilities. In April, a pilot will test how TahVO performs in the role of a visitor host.
Mika Tanhuanpää and the TahVO robot will share responsibility for visitor groups arriving at Olkiluoto. Mika has also lent his voice to his new “colleague.”
The idea of combining a robot with visitor services originated from a suggestion submitted to the TVO Group’s feedback system. The concept has evolved along the way, but even in its very first version it was clear that the visitor centre is an optimal place to utilize AI and robotics.
Strong background of positive experiences
The cleaning robot has been a successful experiment at Olkiluoto. TahVO has assisted cleaners at the group’s headquarters and helped ease their workload. At the visitor centre, the robot can be given even more responsibility, as it is envisioned that in the future it could independently manage visits—though not yet in the initial phase.
In the long term, the goal is for the robot to autonomously guide visitor groups. This would make it possible to organize multiple guided tours simultaneously at Olkiluoto. Currently, there are more interested visitor groups than can be accommodated.
At the same time, the aim is to reduce the workload of Mika Tanhuanpää, who is currently primarily responsible for hosting visits. The visitor centre’s current head host is pleased to be getting a new “colleague.”
- I admit that when the idea was first proposed to me, I was speechless. But the more we’ve developed it together with the programming team, the better the idea has started to sound, Tanhuanpää says.
A level of language ability beyond humans
Although the robot does not resemble a human in appearance, frequent visitors may recognize it by its voice. Tanhuanpää has lent his voice to the robot. TahVO can now deliver presentations about Olkiluoto in 15-minute, 45-minute, and 90-minute versions.
While human Mika has conducted presentations fluently in Finnish and English, TahVO can do so in as many as 140 different languages, including Persian, Icelandic, and Swahili—all delivered in Tanhuanpää’s familiar Rauma-accented voice.
A significant amount of development time has also gone into programming the robot to answer audience questions after its presentation. This has been a major effort, involving the review of over 200 hours of Tanhuanpää’s past presentations as well as audience questions and their answers.
First public test round today
At least at this stage, the robot cannot operate entirely independently during tours, as the wheeled device cannot board or exit a bus on its own. However, it can ask accompanying safety personnel for assistance with movement.
The goal is for TahVO to be fully operational during the popular Summer Wednesdays events next summer, which appears realistic based on testing so far.
- We have been piloting the robot internally since the beginning of the year, but on Wednesday, April 1st at 3:00 PM, we will hold an open test event where TahVO will be in real action for the first time. Everyone is welcome to the visitor centre to witness this important moment, Tanhuanpää says.
Text: Ville Kulmala
Photo: Tapani Karjanlahti