Cleveron Mobility, a company developing the technology for driverless autonomous vehicles, and the parcel delivery company DPD Eesti, claim to have become the first in Europe to deliver a package to a customer with a driverless autonomous vehicle.
Cleveron says that, thanks to its flexible cargo capacity and the capability of driving on public roads, it’s able to offer a “good alternative to fossil fuel vans”.
The driverless autonomous vehicle, manufactured by Cleveron Mobility, is developed as a robotic courier with the aim to deliver goods and equipment in a more efficient, flexible and environmentally friendly way for both people and businesses.
According to the CEO of Cleveron Mobility, Arno Kütt, robotic couriers can transport goods to several destinations just like conventional vans but without the need for a driver.
This creates more efficient ways of delivery and provides relief for the rapidly growing input costs in the parcel delivery sector.
Kütt says: “The e-commerce market is continuing to grow rapidly in the developed world. And it requires more and more transportation to meet the demand,but with the steady decline of drivers, we see that autonomous solutions are key in satisfying last-mile deliveries globally.
“Cleveron Mobility definitely wants to be among the world leaders in this field and achieve the position of the market leader.”
Autonomous and electric-powered robotic couriers make cities significantly more environmentally friendly by reducing CO2 emissions and noise pollution.
Remo Kirss, CEO of DPD Eesti, said that sustainable smart urban logistics is also one of the cornerstones of DPD and the introduction of electric vans is already one of the measures that the company is successfully implementing today.
Kirss says: “We see that the introduction of autonomous robotic couriers in parcel delivery is a very important next step among environmentally friendly delivery methods.
“We are extremely pleased to be the first parcel delivery company in Europe to launch a parcel delivery service with a driverless autonomous courier robot in a public urban space.
“This will allow us to continue to introduce innovative solutions through practice to the general public and to encourage residents and consumers to make environmentally conscious decisions when choosing services and products.”
The first parcel delivery by a driverless autonomous vehicle in Europe was performed in Tallinn, but a larger-scale parcel delivery service based on robot couriers will be launched in cooperation with DPD in Viljandi in the near future.
According to Remo Kirss, the companies can start sending parcels with robot couriers to their customers as well as private individuals to other private individuals within the city of Viljandi.
The robot couriers drive on public roads and work in the radius of about 5 kilometres, within which it is able to deliver parcels between different destinations.
The autonomous robot courier platform can be fitted with various applications to serve different business needs.
For example, it can be adapted to deliver different sized parcels and ready-meals or be a mobile vending machine.
