How today’s students help explore tomorrow’s warehouse

Every summer, Element Logic brings talented engineering and technology students into its R&D organization to work on real-world challenges.

Many come from leading universities in Germany, US and Norway such as NTNU and UIUC, where they study fields including computer science, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, robotics and software engineering. The internship program has become a sought-after opportunity for students eager to apply their skills to real business challenges.

For the students, it is an opportunity to apply their knowledge to real-world problems. For Element Logic, it is a chance to explore emerging technologies, challenge assumptions, and gain fresh perspectives on what the future of warehousing might look like.

This year, three internship projects have been running across Norway and Germany, each focused on a different aspect of warehouse automation. Together, they offer a glimpse into technologies that could influence how warehouses operate in the years ahead.

Investing in talent and the future

The internship program is designed around real business challenges rather than theoretical assignments. Students work closely with experienced engineers and developers, contributing to projects that align with Element Logic's long-term innovation priorities.

The projects also reflect the company's broader ambition to combine software, data, robotics, and automation into intelligent end-to-end warehouse solutions.

Project 1: Can humanoid robots create value in warehouses?

One of the teams has spent the summer at our headquarters in Kløfta exploring an increasingly visible technology trend: humanoid robots.

While humanoids often attract attention through videos on social media, the objective of the project has been far more practical. The team has investigated where humanoid robots could realistically create value in warehouse environments and what would be required before such technology makes sense in real-world operations.

Potential use cases include goods receiving, handling irregular items, and tasks that vary from day to day. The work combines warehouse process understanding, software development, simulation, artificial intelligence, and robotics to evaluate both technical feasibility and business value.

"Technology should be applied where it creates real value. Our ambition is a warehouse where people, software, and automation work seamlessly together. That allows employees to spend less time on repetitive or physically demanding tasks and more time applying their experience, judgment, and operational knowledge," says Rognes.

Project 2: Turning experience into knowledge with Project BEACON

The second team has focused on a different challenge: how to make years of organizational knowledge easier to find and use.

Project BEACON (Business Enrichment, Analytics & Customer Opportunity Navigator) explores how artificial intelligence can help employees retrieve relevant knowledge from previous projects, documents, and data sources within seconds.

In many organizations, valuable experience already exists, but it is often scattered across systems, reports, emails, and teams. BEACON investigates how AI can make that knowledge searchable, actionable, and available exactly when it is needed.

The project works with technologies such as semantic search, language models, and knowledge structures to explore how AI can transform existing experience into a practical asset for the organization.

Project 3: Smarter decisions through real-time data

The third internship project marks the program's first international R&D internship initiative and is being conducted in Germany.

The project explores whether real-time data from conveyors, sensors, robotics, and other automation equipment can help warehouse software make smarter operational decisions. Instead of relying solely on predefined rules, future systems may be able to react dynamically to what is actually happening in the warehouse at any given moment.

The goal is to better understand how operational data can support more intelligent software, more responsive warehouse operations, and improved decision-making.

Building the next generation of warehouse automation

Although the three projects focus on different challenges, they share a common purpose: helping Element Logic understand technologies that may influence the future of warehouse automation, and for the benefit of our customers.

Whether exploring humanoid robots, AI-powered knowledge systems, or real-time decision support, the projects are connected by a belief that innovation starts with curiosity, experimentation, and learning. They also demonstrate the role young talent can play in bringing new perspectives to complex challenges.

"At Element Logic, we believe internships should be more than temporary assignments. They should give students the opportunity to work on real challenges and create real impact. At the same time, they help us explore the technologies and ideas that may shape the next generation of warehouse automation," says Stanelle.