On April 13, the AIRE #5 club event took place, and this time we met in the Yanu OÜ industrial building on the outskirts of Tartu, where representatives of industrial companies learned about various possibilities for finding financing and implementing artificial intelligence and robotics solutions around a modern robot bar. The AIRE club started with a meaningful panel discussion on “Artificial Intelligence in Industry” moderated by Lauri Antalainen from DigiWise. In the second half of the event, Kirke Maar introduced AIRE’s new financing consulting service. Kersti Kuusksalu spoke about the digitalization journey of companies, and Katrin Kask described the digitalization support for Tartu entrepreneurs. In the panel discussion, best practices and ways to cooperate with universities were shared. Alan Adojaan from Yanu OÜ shared his thoughts on the development of a robot bar and described how a business need paved the way to Tartu University researchers, with whom they started to solve the problem comprehensively. Now there are plans to make the movement of the robot arm smoother and more human-like. Alan mentioned that in the European Union, artificial intelligence can now also be used in radiology. “Consequently, there is trust in this technology,” he stated. Leanest OÜ representative Marko Saviauk, who has implemented more than 20 artificial intelligence projects, highlighted in the conversation that it is good if artificial intelligence can control the quality of a wooden part at least as well as a human. This saves a lot of people’s time. “Using artificial intelligence is easy. The most difficult and time-consuming part is training artificial intelligence,” Marko described one of the biggest sets of problems in the development of artificial intelligence. Oskar Kilk from TORM Metall OÜ explained that the border between robot and automation is blurred. In the case of a production line, we don’t usually see a robot arm, but it is a robot. “Why do we automate? Still to do more with less resources. It pays for itself,” explained Oskar and added that in the case of production it is very important to define what a good result means for the company. “Artificial intelligence doesn’t tell us that,” he stated. The representative of the University of Tartu, Karl Kruusamäe, stated that when talking about the automation of industry, it is very important first of all how to formulate the question to which the answer is sought. The solution to the problem is not necessarily a robot or artificial intelligence, but in the case of an industrial company, the solution usually contains some technological component. According to Karl, data collection is a critical stage in the development of artificial intelligence. Next to the snacks and light grill, the conversation continued even longer, and in the background the ice clinking in the glasses of the Yanu robot bar. In total, more than 49 people participated in the AIRE club event this time. The leader of AIRE is Tallinn University of Technology, the partners are the University of Tartu, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tehnopol science and business campus, Tartu Science Park and the Technology Development Center for Innovative Mechanical Engineering Production Systems (IMECC). The preparation of the center is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications with nearly half a million euros, and the activities are carried out jointly by Estonian universities and science parks. Cooperation partners are professional associations, clusters, chambers of commerce, banks, telecom companies, developers of robot systems, importers of robots.

At the AIRE #5 club event, Yanu gathered around the robot bar