Logistics droids for last mile delivery

For what uses?

TwinswHeel logistics droids ( www.twinswheel.fr ) assist humans in logistics tasks. These tasks can be simply carrying groceries for an elderly or disabled person, or having them delivered from a local business until 11 p.m. In all cases the objective is to provide a fast, reliable and affordable delivery service for as many people as possible.

Urban logistics needs can be classified into 3 macro categories:

1. Supporting individuals: a person with reduced mobility will regain freedom of movement thanks to a droid that will carry their shopping. In this way she will regain autonomy and be able to recreate a social bond with the inhabitants of her neighborhood.
2. Own-account transport: a craftsman needs to bring his supplies and tools to the foot of a building where he is renovating an apartment. The droid will carry all this material and thus prevent the craftsman from wasting time in transport and parking.
3. Transport for others: a merchant wants to be restocked with fresh products throughout the day. The droid, deployed by a transporter, will supply the merchant from an urban logistics center.

Logistics droids make it possible to carry out all these tasks with very low added value for an almost zero ecological footprint (droids are all electric) and at extremely affordable costs for all (not reserved for a few and therefore not deployable to have an impact global ecological). This way humans can refocus on tasks with higher added value and less physical difficulty, such as personal service. This is the beginning of the augmented human (H+) with droids who assist us in our daily tasks. The droid is and will remain an aid, not a replacement! It allows us to be more competitive economically, socially and environmentally.

“Fast Courier” droid in the streets of Paris

The market for logistics droids is exploding with multiple and varied needs. In the segment of logistics and last mile urban delivery droids, these droids will gradually replace traditional vehicles such as vans and pickup trucks. These electric droids have a very small footprint, they are non-polluting and silent. They allow responsible, green delivery for a usage cost of less than €1 per delivery. The giants of new technologies want to take leading positions, with Amazon which bought Dispatch for 300 M$ or Softbank which bought Nuro for 940 M$… The leaders of Chinese e-commerce Alibaba, JD.com and Meituan have they also created their subsidiaries, each equipped with 1000 M$s, to develop this type of droid... The surge of logistics droids for last mile delivery is coming. Nuro has just announced the production of 5000 droids in the next 24 months!

How it works ?

Droids have 3 modes of operation:

1. Collaborative: the droid is paired with a person and follows them like a little dog. Thus the droid carries the heavy loads of its master who is freer to move. For example, the delivery person will be able to concentrate on the service provided during the delivery/delivery of packages and no longer worry about travel difficulties.
2. Remote control: the droid is partly autonomous but a supervisor remains in the background to control it. So thanks to networks like 4G, a human can pilot the droid from a remote operations center: the pilot is immersed in the droid from his computer.
3. Autonomous: the droid knows how to move alone in a given neighborhood which has been perfectly mapped beforehand. The droid receives its orders from humans and alone defines the best route to follow to get to its destination. It embeds all the Artificial Intelligence necessary to make the right decisions on its own to drive safely.

Security is our first key user experience factor:

For TwinswHeel, safety is the first element that guides all our developments. Our droids are light, roll slowly and in the event of an accident their only mission is to protect the exterior elements (no driver inside). In addition, our droids are ultra agile and equipped with a multitude of redundant sensors to perceive the environment and create virtual bumpers around them. Our droids are equipped with 2D/3D lidar, 2D and 3D cameras, distance sensors, etc. All the measurements from these sensors are reported and processed 20 times per second in order to predict the free space in front of the droid and the position of objects. moving in the next few seconds. Its sensors allow 360-degree vision around the droid and thanks to on-board AI, they are autonomous. Thus, the droids, like a human, at every moment know the position of the pedestrians around them, but also predict their potential trajectories in the coming seconds. All software embedded in droids is based on security concepts where the number 1 priority is always the safety of people and property surrounding the droid before delivery performance. Logistics droids evolve in human environments and must respect Asimov's famous laws:

1. A robot cannot harm a human being, nor, by remaining passive, allow a human being to be exposed to danger;
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by a human being, unless such orders conflict with the First Law;
3. A robot must protect its existence as long as this protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These laws from science fiction may make you smile, but in reality, we find them transcribed in our entire concept of safety and in the rules to be applied for all autonomous vehicles.

Droid “Pegasus” on the streets of Silicon Valley in California

What does TwinswHeel offer?

TwinswHeel offers a complete range of logistics droids. These droids are intended for 3 main markets

1. Closed sites: factories, offices, construction sites and warehouses…
2. Semi-open sites: hospitals, train stations, airports, shopping centers, etc.
3. Cities: delivery to merchants, e-retailers, services, etc.

All our droids share our basic techno bricks. But the external shape of the droids is always tailored to customer needs. Indeed, today professionals expect a droid that is adapted to their needs, rather than a generic robot where the task entrusted to it is adapted to its capabilities.

The TwinswHeel droids therefore operate indoors and outdoors, they have strong crossing capabilities (kerbside) and all operate in 3 modes: collaborative, remote control and autonomous. Depending on customer needs, the small droids can carry up to 40 kg while the larger ones have payloads of up to 500 kg. They can also tow trailers, possibly refrigerated, up to 2.5 tonnes. Of course, only the little droids drive on the sidewalks. Logistics droids are designed around the opposite dogma of current vans, their empty weight must be less than the payload. For example, a droid that can carry 100 kg must not exceed 60 kg empty. This is going in the right direction from an energy and ecological point of view. But also from an energy autonomy point of view with droids which carry relatively small batteries for a range of 20 to 30 km.

TwinswHeel positions itself as a manufacturer of droids and its ranges of logistics droids make it possible to assist humans in boring logistics tasks so that they can refocus on more interesting and rewarding activities. Thus, the adoption of our droids in industry has already demonstrated a very rapid return on investment, with productivity gains of up to 15%. These gains continue to grow with the new functionalities grafted onto our droids (augmented reality, collaborative robotic arms, etc.). Our droids are a fantastic vector of productivity for businesses.

TwinswHeel logistics droids are already driving daily in Europe, the USA and Korea & Japan in 3 segments: closed, semi-open sites and cities. For last mile delivery in the city, we have several experiments in Paris, Lyon, Montpellier and Toulouse.

For all your logistics robot/droid needs, do not hesitate to contact us, we are at your disposal to analyze your needs and offer you the best solution that will meet your requirements.

Contact

Vincent TALON, vincent@twinswheel.fr, 06 62 23 20 56

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