At Parcel+Post Expo, Sew-Eurodrive will present its delivery robots, designed to make the last mile green.
Although online shopping had been around for quite some time, the Covid-19 pandemic gave it a considerable boost. As a result, the last mile is becoming increasingly congested with courier services. Sew-Eurodrive intends to counter this development with the use of delivery robots that make the last mile emissions-free and improve the quality of life for everyone.
Whether in a major city or the countryside, the delivery vehicles of courier companies and food delivery services are a familiar sight to pretty much everyone. Sew-Eurodrive believes that the distribution of goods places a strain on public infrastructure – particularly in urban areas and inner cities. Gridlocked roads, lines of traffic in residential environments, a lack of parking, increased noise and air pollution – these issues affect everyone. Over time, the stresses and strains are detrimental to public health and the environment. However, the delivery robots that Sew-Eurodrive is using and testing at efeuCampus in Bruchsal could offer a potential solution to the air pollution problem.
Using this solution, a residential district would have its own district depot – a micro depot for incoming and outgoing goods – at a location with good transport links. Quiet, environmentally friendly, emissions-free autonomous delivery robots that can deliver to people of different ages appropriately would then distribute packages within the district. The final delivery to residents could take place at pick-up points in front of houses, where the robots drop off goods. Alternatively, residents could specify a delivery time via their district app and have their parcel delivered directly to them.
On their return journey, the delivery robots can take either parcels for posting or trash back to the district depot, where the courier services or waste management companies can take over again.
To test this solution under real conditions, efeuCampus Bruchsal was established in Bruchsal in Germany by a consortium that includes Sew-Eurodrive, which is also supplying the necessary technology. As part of a RegioWin research project titled ‘Innovation center for autonomous urban goods logistics’, which is being funded by the German state of Baden-Württemberg, efeuCampus has set out to establish the ‘eco-friendly experimental urban logistics campus’ lighthouse project on a former barracks site (now known as the Efeu District).
In Bruchsal – right in the heart of the Karlsruhe Technology Region – a test site is taking shape in the form of a city district that will have around 240 residents, private and rented homes, lots
of offices, laboratories, a school, a large open green space and public traffic areas. This futuristic residential district serves as a ‘live-in lab’, where technologies for energy-efficient construction and living in the age of the energy revolution can be showcased and put through their paces.
Unique in Europe, this model district will see goods of all sorts moved from A to B by innovative vehicles that produce zero emissions, serve people of different ages appropriately and don't require a driver. Finding a sustainable way to reduce the motorized delivery traffic on the last mile will cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions and considerably improve the quality of life in the district.
The experience gained by the efeu innovation center is to be evaluated for a variety of applications and published. The efeuAkademie and its knowledge database will be used for this purpose.
Booth: 2070
