Delivering the Goods: Transforming Urban Logistics
This is the third post in a four-part series on the winners of the Porsche ideas competition “Mobility for a Better World”. You can read the first post (Breeze Technologies) here and the second one (Phantasma Labs) here. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the growing challenges of urban logistics and our third-place winner Ducktrain.
The start-up from Aachen, Germany, plans to make urban delivery smart and green. Founded in 2018 by Kai D. Kreisköther, Markus Werle, Fabian Kober, the team develops vehicle platforms and automation technology, with a special focus on urban logistics. With their innovative delivery concept, they want to revolutionize goods transportation in cities. To do so, they have developed what they call “ducktrains”, automated electric vehicles for urban last-mile and industrial logistics. But before we get to their project, here’s some background.
The challenge: reducing urban logistics traffic
Today, more than two-thirds of Europe’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, this figure is projected to rise to over 80%. While urbanization brings many socio-economic benefits, it also puts increased pressure on urban infrastructure and mobility systems. Traffic congestion is one of the foremost problems in cities, not just in Europe but all over the world, leading to high levels of air and noise pollution as well as reduced road safety. The question how to ease urban traffic is, in fact, a major challenge facing almost all large cities.
Goods transport contributes significantly to congestion and environmental problems in urban areas. In comparison to urban passenger transportation, however, the transport of goods has received relatively little attention. And despite the growing demand for urban goods deliveries, urban logistics remains a challenge. Urban transport of goods poses its own particular problems. Streets are regularly blocked by delivery trucks. Customers expect ordered items to arrive no later than the next day. And last-mile deliveries are often limited by narrow streets or residential regulations, to name but a few examples.
While all big logistics operators are testing alternative delivery methods, these solutions are far from optimal and yet ready for mainstream use. There is currently no solution on the market that will solve the problem that cities are facing. And that is where Ducktrain comes in.
The solution: automated electric logistics vehicles
The team behind Ducktrain has developed an automated electric transport device that promises to eliminate over-reliance on conventional delivery vehicles in cities. A Ducktrain is a combination of a leading object and one or several automated electric vehicles, which are called Ducks. With their vehicles, the team wants to close the gap between big transporters and small cargo bikes. Measuring only one meter in width, the vehicles can navigate narrow streets without any problems. They combine the advantages of cargo bikes (e.g. efficient door access) with an increased loading volume (similar to that of conventional transporters).
Each duck is equipped with sensors (lidar, radar and cameras) and can automatically follow the leading object (bicycles, pedestrians or other vehicles) without a physical connection. To individually process data for each sensor, they use segmentation and interpolation algorithms as well as artificial intelligence algorithms which are trained for specific sensors.
The Ducktrain team develops hardware and software systems for urban and industrial logistics and is currently working on second-generation prototypes, which are tested on public and industrial terrain. The jury was intrigued by this delivery concept and found it innovative and highly relevant to the topic of the ideas competition.
Many congratulations to Ducktrain. Well done! Stay tuned and keep an eye out next week for our final blog post next week.
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