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About

Hannu Lehtinen is a pioneering roboticist whose career spans foundational construction robotics to forward-looking care automation. His research focuses on developing robotic systems for unstructured, real-world environments, with key contributions in masonry, tile cladding, and autonomous mobile robotics. In his seminal 1989 work, Lehtinen outlined two masonry robot systems—a modular SCARA-based design and a six-degree-of-freedom articulated configuration—establishing technical specifications and economic feasibility for construction automation. He later led the development of a mobile tile cladding robot system (1991), demonstrating how robots could perform interior finishing tasks on-site. Lehtinen also advanced autonomous vehicle technologies at VTT, testing them in mines, factories, and container yards, while identifying new challenges in increasing robotic autonomy. His 2017 Finnish roadmap for robotics in care services (10 citations) reflects his enduring interest in applying robotics to societal needs. Though his citation counts are modest, Lehtinen’s work is notable for its early, practical vision of robots operating alongside humans in complex, non-factory settings—a vision that continues to influence construction and service robotics today.