About HUMLA

Forest planners are the hidden heroes in the forest industry. They are responsible for forest inspections and decide which trees or regions to save for biodiversity. They deliver the needed mapping for harvesting processes. It may sound straightforward, but creating harvesting maps is a long and complicated task that relies on the forest planner’s expertise.

Humla is a collaborative robot that assists forest planners with their workflows. It helps forest planners with their forest inspection by executing menial tasks, creating reliable data and speeding up the overall inspection process. Humla relieves forest planners from repetitive tasks and lets them focus on visual inspection of the forest, to evaluate which trees are crucial for biodiversity.

The data co-created by Humla and the forest planner provides a common ground for forest planners, forest owners, project managers and harvester operators. This re-usable data helps the timber industry create optimal harvesting paths, without compromising biodiversity and natural life.

The existing method for mapping is done through site inspection, and the communication between the planners and harvesters is via plastic ribbons tied around trees. Each ribbon’s color and pattern has a meaning and directs harvester operators in their task. However this method is outdated, inefficient, and also creates excessive plastic waste. Our project Humla offers an end-to-end solution for forest planning that consists of a data creation system, an inspection drone and an augmented reality interface that simplifies computer interaction in the field.