Autonomous delivery robot company Ottonomy has announced its collaboration with Posten Norge, the Norwegian postal service, and autonomous mobility company Holo, for trials of automated first-mile delivery services.
One the companies’ goals is to trial how autonomous robots can improve intralogistics, especially within urban centres.
Posten Norge will be responsible for co-ordinating Ottonomy’s ‘Ottobots’ for first-mile pick-ups, receiving and delivering goods for digital marketplace Amoi within the Aker Brygge metropolitan area in Oslo.
“Autonomous robots have previously been tested by other companies with the focus entirely on final delivery to the customer,” said Sven Richard Tønnessen from Posten Norge’s department of emerging technology.
“We want to evaluate how robots can become part of Posten’s future logistics solutions.
“This project, which utilises both humans and robots, offers many new opportunities for increasing efficiency and productivity for our organisation.
“We will continue to utilise our existing pool of human couriers for delivering goods to the customers – while the robot takes care of the intra-logistics part of the supply chain.”
On the challenges of urban first-mile deliveries, Kenneth Tjønndal Pettersen, from Posten Norge, said: “The logistics with delivery vans at Aker Brygge is extremely demanding in terms of parking and time consuming.
“Together with our partners, we want to test the various applications for autonomous technology, which can enable simpler logistics and reduced noise in the cityscape.”
First-mile delivery is the part of the supply chain where a product or produce is moved from the manufacturer or retailer’s warehouse or factory to a fulfilment, distribution or holding centre. From this location, a carrier, shipping company or logistics partner picks up the product and transports it to the next leg in the destination.
