Last Mile Autonomous Delivery (LMAD), a startup launched by EIT Digital, has developed a software platform to operate multiple types of autonomous delivery robots (ADRs). Following a test in Paris last year, LMAD recently successfully operated it in Finland. In August, the solution was piloted at Aalto University Campus, home to a student village with more than 4,000 residents.
Shoppers at the local K-Market Otaniemi grocery store had the option of ordering their groceries online and having them delivered by LMAD’s autonomous vehicle, without requiring physical human interaction (see a video of the robot in action here).
“I believe that the more options the customers have, the better,” said Aleksi Tapani, owner of K-Market Otaniemi in a statement. “With the robot, we have been giving customers one additional option to receive the goods for themselves, without as much human interaction as there might be when doing the traditional delivery.”
With home deliveries set to grow, the question will become how to make last-mile delivery profitable. “Automatization and robotics can be part of the solution, that’s why I was keen on getting in this pilot and seeing what it would bring,” added Tapani.
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Following the successful pilot, K-Market Otaniemi will participate in the next LMAD operation in October. Additionally, LMAD will deploy a full delivery service at Nokia’s campus in the outskirts of Paris by the end of the year and another test drive of the platform in Finland in November, as well as new pilots being planned elsewhere, to test the platform with robots made by various manufacturers.
