Helsinki launches phase two of delivery robot pilot

The City of Helsinki has launched the second phase of a pilot that uses an autonomous delivery robot to bring parcels directly to doorsteps in the Ruoholahti and Jätkäsaari neighbourhoods.

The project – managed by the city’s innovation company, Forum Virium Helsinki – is part of a test running until the end of 2023, and follows another trial launched earlier this year.

“In this second phase, we are testing the same robot for emission-free delivery of e-commerce orders,” said Satu Reijonen, Project Manager, Forum Virium Helsinki.

“We are finding out how consumers accept a new kind of service and whether this could be the future of smarter logistics.”

The HeRo robot – developed by tech firm LMAD – will deliver parcels on weekdays between 10am and 7pm.

“We first tested HeRo’s functionality and public acceptance in Kalasatama from May to August, where the talking robot delivered tools from Würth Center Sörnäinen to local construction sites,” added Reijonen.

“The next step is to optimise delivery routes more resource-efficiently through collaborative efforts and shared rules, which could accelerate the shift to emission-free logistics across the industry.”

Forum Virum Helsinki has plans to expand cooperation between logistics and customer bases during 2024, including deploying the robots to larger areas of the city.

The trial is part of the four-year URBANE project which started in autumn 2022.

The purpose of the project is to test various last-mile solutions in cities in order to reduce traffic congestion and emissions caused by urban logistics distribution.

US roll out

In May 2023, autonomous delivery firm Serve Robotics announced a deal with Uber Eats to deploy up to 2,000 sidewalk delivery robots across multiple unspecified markets in the United States.

The company – which spun out from Uber in 2021 – said that over 200 restaurants in Los Angeles are now delivering Uber Eats via Serve robots and robotic dispatches have grown over 30 percent per month since they launched last year.

According to Serve, delivery robots have the potential to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, while also improving the efficiency of last mile trips and offering customers and merchants a new and innovative delivery experience.

Last year, the Urbanism Next Center at the University of Oregon released a report about delivery robot pilots in Pittsburgh, Miami-Dade County, Detroit and San Jose.

Out of 3,000 completed trips there were no reported pedestrian safety incidents, and when robots struggled with delivery it was often due to overgrown trees and blocked or broken pavements.

Image: Forum Virium Helsinki