KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- HeRo Robot Speeds Up Holiday Shopping:
Shoppers in Helsinki experience swift one-hour deliveries of online purchases through the HeRo robot by TwinswHeel, enhancing holiday shopping convenience. - Advanced Autonomous Delivery Droid:
The HeRo, a ciTHy L “delivery droid” with a 300 kg payload capacity, 25 km/h speed, and 20 km range, employs GPS and sensors for obstacle avoidance. - Smart Locker System for Secure Delivery:
HeRo incorporates 900 liters of storage divided into lockers for individual orders. Customers can electronically access their designated locker via a smartphone app, ensuring secure deliveries. - Successful Pilot Project in Helsinki:
Previously used to transport tools, HeRo’s current pilot project, led by Forum Virium Helsinki, sees it delivering holiday purchases to specific areas, allowing users to choose from participating retailers. - Collaborative Innovation in Delivery Solutions:
The project is part of the EU URBANE initiative, demonstrating collaborative efforts between French firm TwinswHeel, Finnish-French LMAD, and the City of Helsinki’s innovation company, Forum Virium Helsinki. - Future Optimization of Delivery Routes:
As the project progresses, the partnering groups plan to optimize delivery routes in the upcoming spring phase, exploring ways to enhance the efficiency of the HeRo robot’s delivery service.
Holiday Help in Helsinki: HeRo Robot Speeds Up Gift Delivery
This festive season in Helsinki, shoppers are enjoying a convenient way to receive their online orders promptly. Thanks to the HeRo robot, a creation of the French robotics company TwinswHeel, selected retailers are offering customers the option of having their purchases delivered straight to their door within an hour.
What is HeRo?
HeRo stands for “Helsinki Robot” and is a type of delivery robot developed by TwinswHeel. Specifically, it’s a ciTHy L “delivery droid” with special software and a customer interface designed by the Finnish-French company LMAD.
Impressive Features
This autonomous robot is equipped with four wheels, capable of carrying a maximum load of 300 kg (661 lb). It zips around at a top speed of 25 km/h (16 mph) and can cover distances of up to 20 km (12 miles) on a single charge of its swappable lithium battery pack. To navigate through the city and avoid obstacles, it relies on a combination of GPS and onboard sensors.
Smart Locker System
The HeRo boasts a practical storage volume of 900 liters (238 gal), organized into individual lockers. These lockers hold orders from multiple customers, and each customer can electronically access only their designated locker using a smartphone app.
How HeRo Robot Works?
Customers simply place an online order with a participating retailer, and the HeRo robot takes care of the rest. Within an hour, the robot delivers the order directly to the customer’s doorstep, offering a hassle-free and efficient solution for holiday gift shopping.
The HeRo robot has been on the streets of Helsinki before. Before this, HeRo showcased its capabilities in a pilot project. Initially, it delivered tools from Würth Center warehouse to nearby construction sites between May and August.
Now, in the second phase of the pilot project, HeRo is delivering purchases to customers in Ruoholahti and North Jätkäsaari areas of Helsinki. People in these areas can use the app mentioned earlier to pick from different participating retailers and order what they want.
You can watch a demonstration of how it works in the video below.
The City of Helsinki’s innovation company, Forum Virium Helsinki, is running this project as part of the larger European Union URBANE project. It will continue until the end of the year. In the next phase next spring, the groups involved will figure out ways to make the delivery routes more efficient.
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