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Scania demonstrates last-mile goods deliveries by robots

15 OCTOBER 2024

Studies show that truck drivers spend a sizable amount of time outside their vehicles, loading and unloading goods. Scania, in collaboration with partners, is therefore exploring the potential for using robots to unload goods at the point of delivery.

This Scania-led project is one of several within the HITS research initiative – Sustainable and Integrated Urban Transport System – to develop efficient transport solutions for cleaner and safer cities. It includes real estate owners, municipalities, engineering and logistics companies, and research institutions.

Sweden’s Dyno Robotics is developing the prototype Carrie robot to demonstrate how a goods cage automatically can be offloaded from trucks at loading bays and subsequently travel through a maze of interior corridors as well as using lifts for destination delivery. The cage is equipped with a RFID tag so that the robot identifies the correct cage and recipient.

Unloading goods with robot

The selected demonstration site is Stockholm’s Westfield Mall of Scandinavia, one of the very largest shopping centres in the Nordic countries with more than 200 shops and restaurants.

Arriving at the loading bay with Havi’s Scania electric distribution truck, Carrie steers off the cargo box onto the dock. Having been previously programmed, it embarks on its journey through a set of turns and twists on its way to the goods entrance of a clothing shop. Travelling autonomously at one half-metre per second, the robot adeptly manoeuvres through interior corridors but it also needs to go up several floors.

As of yet, the robot can only handle cages under which Carrie can snugly fit. Simply fitting all hardware components in this compact prototype for cages has been an engineering feat, Standard pallets have lower ground clearance and would require even slimmer equipment.

“Keep in mind that this is a prototype and that we, most probably, would need more space for the lifting mechanism to increase load capacity. That would be possible with smaller batteries and more compact motors with gearboxes,” says Hardware Engineer Tobiaz Pettersson, Dyno Robotics.

Autonomous trucks will require new delivery processes

Scania envisions a future whereby trucks could be delivered together with robots.

“We’re imagining the future beyond 2030,” explains Innovation and Project Manager Elisabeth Hörnfeldt at Scania’s Innovation Office. “We might by then have driverless autonomous trucks that will require new delivery processes. For us, it’s a question of exploring future potential and viable business opportunities.”

HITS 2024 research project: 

HITS (Sustainable and Integrated Urban Transport System) is a cooperative initiative across a number of different industries that aims to develop efficient transport solutions and create cleaner and safer cities. The project participants include property owners, city authorities, municipalities, engineering and logistics companies and research institutions. The project is led by Scania, coordinated by CLOSER and financed by VINNOVA.