Futurice

The amount of data we generate is growing and the different ways in which we can benefit from it are increasing. Unfortunately, buzzwords and concepts like AI, data lakes, machine learning, and data-driven culture sound distant and, to a varying degree, incomprehensible for many.

The vital questions are: “How can I or my company benefit from all this?” and often “What is this?”

Meet Markku

To make data concrete and fun to approach, we - the crazy toy car developers at Futurice - designed and built a 1:10 scale AI car that is really a fully equipped learning platform for demonstrating what machine learning really comes down to - in a way that anyone can understand.

We call the car Markku.
Unlike many data and AI scenarios, there is nothing dystopian about Markku. It’s not a life-threatening battle robot or a malicious computer program. Markku is an autonomous version of a familiar toy car. It puts people at ease and encourages play and experimentation.

Want to know Markku better? Join the fun

Want to get to know Markku better and join the fun? Here are your choices:

We can e.g organise one-day crash courses for anywhere from 5 to 15 people all around Europe. You bring your racing team(s) and we bring the hardware. No prior knowledge of the topic is required, but the desire to learn about data and new ways to use it is a must!

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Besides introducing people to the opportunities AI, machine learning, IoT and other data-related technologies offer, we love to design and build digital services. We have world-class innovation and delivery skills to do it, too. Learn more about us here: Futurice - A new breed of Innovation Consultancy

How does it work?

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Over the years we’ve learned that there are certain phases that occur in all data-intensive projects, regardless of industry.

Markku helps us go through these phases in a compact package that teaches you the basics of Machine Learning as you train an autonomous vehicle. Yes, it will actually drive on its own when you are done, thanks to you. 

The time spent training Markku will teach you the basics of supervised learning, machine vision, neural networks and plenty of other exciting new concepts you’ve probably read about. The principles Markku helps you grasp can be applied to the automation of factories, daily processes at an insurance company and countless other business cases.

For the more technically oriented, Markku offers a lot of goodies. All the basic building blocks for the car itself have been open-sourced and shared in our community blog markku.ai. We’ve also shared the 3D models you need to print the electronic mounts for your own car, as well as files for creating your very own race track. Beware of code examples and (some) tech talk!

Get in touch with us!