In late August 2026, Prof. Gunho Sohn and trainees of the NSERC CREATE Smart Mobility Advanced Research & Training (SMART) program visited Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) in northern Manitoba.
The visit is part of SMART's work with Indigenous communities. The goal is to learn how smart mobility can serve the real needs of northern and remote communities.
The team met with community members and shared their research in a meeting at OCN. They also brought one of the lab's sidewalk delivery robots, which joined the presentations and later a community gathering outdoors.
The robot also did a live delivery test indoors. It carried a tray of food across a busy community hall while a local band played.
The team also toured the community's indoor smart farm. It grows food on stacked shelves inside a building, with an automated water and nutrient system. This kind of local food production matters for northern communities, where fresh food is costly to bring in.
The visit ended with an outdoor community event. We thank OCN for their warm welcome.
More photos are in the Gallery.