A multi-year partnership has been signed between Uber Technologies and Nuro which will see the food delivery business using Nuro’s electric and autonomous vehicles for food deliveries in the USA, beginning autumn 2022.

Users of the Uber Eats service in Houston, Texas, and Mountain View, California, will be able to have their orders fulfilled by Nuro’s unmanned autonomous delivery vehicles which carry out their operations on public roads. The duo plans to expand the service to the Bay Area in coming months.

Continue reading Uber and Nuro partner on autonomous food deliveries in California and Texas at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

UK-based autonomous vehicle developer Oxbotica has announced that it has completed the first deployment of a zero-occupancy, fully autonomous, new-type electric vehicle on publicly accessible roads in Europe. The all-electric AppliedEV vehicle is operating in Oxford, UK, ahead of the first public on-road business deployment with Ocado Group using a goods delivery variant, planned for 2023 onwards.

Oxbotica says it will also now accelerate commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles globally. Working with partners, such as ZF, BP and NEVS, it will work on autonomous passenger shuttles and industry-specific platforms, all driven by Oxbotica’s core product: Oxbotica Driver.

Continue reading Oxbotica deploys Europe’s first fully autonomous, zero-occupancy EV on public roads at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

PostEurop, the European postal trade association, has committed to maintaining international postal exchanges between all regions, in the face of the escalating conflict in Ukraine.

The organization plans to focus on keeping the postal network open and ensuring that postal services and all items, including humanitarian aid, can reach Ukrainian citizens. Despite a number of disruptions, including the closure of Ukrainian airspace, the Ukrainian postal service remains open to serve the public.

In addition, several members of PostEurop have organized various national actions, many in cooperation with humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF and the Red Cross, to ensure the free delivery of parcels and the transportation of essential goods to the Ukrainian population.

Continue reading European postal operators ensure humanitarian aid can reach Ukrainian citizens at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Benteler EV Systems, Beep Inc. and Mobileye have formed a strategic collaboration to develop and deploy automotive-grade, fully electric, autonomous movers in public and private communities across North America. Aimed at first- and last-mile use cases in urban areas, the shuttles are due to begin production deployments in the USA in 2024.

It is hoped that the collaboration will facilitate the development and deployment of a fully autonomous (SAE Level 4) electric mover for the USA designed to meet automotive industry and safety standards for public road use.

Continue reading Benteler EV Systems, Mobileye and Beep to collaborate on autonomous last mile shuttles at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Hermes UK has invested £11m (US$14.9m) in its international business, including the creation of a dedicated international division for inbound, outbound and reverse logistics.

To facilitate this expansion, Hermes has opened three facilities, two in the UK and one in the Netherlands. A 140,000ft2  facility in Essex, UK, has the capacity to process approximately 150,000 parcels a day; an 80,000ft2 Heathrow facility manages export and import operations; and a facility in Utrecht, part of an 80,000ft2 facility, will be the main transshipment hub in the Netherlands and has a processing capacity of 70,000 parcels a day.

Continue reading Hermes UK invests in international growth at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Udelv, a Silicon Valley venture-backed company, has unveiled its first cab-less autonomous electric delivery vehicle for multi-stop delivery, the Transporter, which utilizes the Mobileye Drive self-driving system.

The multi-stop electric delivery vehicle features a proprietary, self-contained, hot swappable modular cargo pod called the uPod.  It can carry up to 2,000 lb of goods, and is said to be able to make up to 80 stops per cycle at highway speeds, cover ranges between 160 and 300 miles per run depending on the battery pack option, and be operated by Udelv’s mobile apps to schedule, deliver, track and retrieve packages.

Continue reading Udelv rolls out cab-less Transporter autonomous delivery vehicle at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Udelv, a Silicon Valley venture-backed company, has been selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) AFWERX program for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to improve flight line readiness by enhancing the delivery turnaround of time-critical equipment to and from maintenance tool rooms and back shop areas.

By providing an autonomous delivery solution, Udelv says it will reduce the delivery turnaround time of critical equipment and tools to and from maintenance tool rooms and other back shop areas that support aircraft maintenance to increase flight line readiness.

Continue reading Udelv wins research contract with USAF for autonomous parts delivery system at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Ford and DP World London Gateway, a port facility on the UK’s River Thames, have conducted a trial with a simulated autonomous vehicle to demonstrate how useful such future technology could be to those managing – and employed on – large worksites.

The initiative is part of Ford’s Self-Driving Research Program, designed to help businesses understand how autonomous vehicles could benefit their operations. First launched in June to explore the potential impact on courier services and doorstep deliveries, the DP World trial tested how recipients managed when accessing self-driving delivery vehicles themselves.

Continue reading Ford conducts autonomous parcel delivery trial at UK port at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Israeli firm MOV.AI has launched its Robotics Engine Platform, which it says allows AMR (autonomous mobile robot) manufacturers, automation integrators and manufacturers of manual logistics vehicles to quickly build AMRs suitable for 85% dynamic environments. The platform is the latest version of the MOV.AI software.

Company CTO and co-founder Limor Schwietzer said, “Robot development is complex, and there are very few development tools to speed it up. ROS is great and constantly evolving, but it was built for robotics researchers that do not need to deal with enterprise needs such as quality, versioning or security.

Continue reading MOV.AI launches Robotics Engine Platform for AMRs at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Wayve, the London-based company developing deep learning for autonomous urban mobility, is to run a Fleet Data Collection pilot program with parcel delivery firm DPD.

The companies are working together to explore how innovations in computer vision and machine learning can be applied to existing fleet and delivery operations to increase the safety of smart urban delivery solutions.

“Real-world driving data is fundamental to building the core capabilities of Wayve’s technology and we have built industry-leading expertise in the collection and utilization of fleet-scale data,” said Alex Kendall, Wayve CEO.

Continue reading Wayve to run data collection pilot program with DPD at Parcel and Postal Technology International.