June 21, 2024

FirstEnergy employees are developing innovative solutions for controlling weeds around our substations. The project involves students from Penn State (PSU) collaborating with FirstEnergy’s

Jay Foringer, Vice President of Organizational Performance Management and Strategy, and Robin Zablocky, Director of Treasury Services and executive sponsor for the PSU Ambassador Network.

The students designed a one-of-a-kind autonomous weed-killing robot that can navigate various terrains and avoid obstacles within electrical substations. The robot is designed to be fully covered by a structure, ensuring it can charge its battery and seek shelter when not in use.

“This has been a great experience for both Penn State engineering seniors and FirstEnergy. We aim to foster innovation at FE by encouraging employees to question the norm and think differently. This project will help us save on maintenance costs and inspire employees to approach problem-solving in new ways,” explained Jay.

This project demonstrates our commitment to investing in new ideas and technology, which could enhance recruitment efforts and foster optimism for the future. After completion, the company plans to scale up the prototype for an expanded pilot at multiple facilities.

See the robot in action!​