Robot streamlines food deliveries in a pilot trial

An autonomous mobile robot has been seen moving around the corridors of the Redi shopping centre in Kalasatama, a neighbourhood in Helsinki, Finland.

Operated by Omron’s solution partner Dimalog, the robot was taking part in a month-long ‘Home-on Demand’ automated courier service trial. This is testingthe potential for using autonomous robotsfor deliveries to urban homes. It’s part of alarger experiment called the Six City Strategy‘New solutions in city logistics’ project, whichis investigating all possible options for lastmile deliveries in Finnish cities. It’s looking forsolutions that will organise urban logistics aslightly, sustainably and efficiently as possible.

REFINING THE ROBOT

Omron, Dimalog and Muotohiomo workedtogether to refine the operation and design ofthe robot so that they met the specific needsof the project. To move around successfully,the robot had to navigate the supermarketand tower block corridors as using elevatorsand service tunnels. As it moved, the robotboth whistled and talked in Finnish (using aspeech synthesiser).

Lotta Toivonen, development manager forHousing Services at SRV (which built both theshopping centre and the Majakka tower block)comments, “The idea of whistling is that it’sa funny thing. On the other hand, people alsorealise that the robot is coming. It speaks abit, and people greet it. It is treated as if itwas a person.” Kaisa Spilling of Forum Viriumadds, “It’s been fun to see how people alongthe way feel like it’s human. It might say in theelevator, ‘I’m sorry I would like to get out here’or ‘Oops, the elevator is full, I’ll ask to useanother elevator.’”

RUNNING THE TRIAL

So, how did the trial work? Each deliverystarted with the receipt of an online orderfrom a customer using the Asumi platform.Orders could also be placed through thesupermarket by the shopping centre'ssmaller businesses. The items (mainly meals)would be collected at the supermarket and

“Mobile robots can dramatically boost the productivity of logistics operations. They can navigate effectively and provide invaluable support to human workers. This enables employees to focus on other tasks that require complex human skills”

loaded by staff into the robot, which wouldthen deliver the order to the relevant businessor apartment. The customer would receive anautomatic notification as soon as the robotdelivered the item. Kaisi Spilling remarks,“During the coronavirus epidemic, the robothas brought lunches for homeworkers. Lunchtime has been fully booked.”

Throughout the trial, the robot couldrequest an elevator itself but needed anescort to open any doors that might have tobe kept closed due to fire safety regulations.The escort was a university service designstudent, who reported any problemsencountered by the robot and observed itsinteraction with people.

SELF-NAVIGATING ROBOTS

The robot used on the trial was an Omron LD model - a self-navigating autonomous mobile robot (AMR). Unlike traditional autonomously guided vehicles (AGVs), Omron’s mobile robots don’t need any expensive modifications to facilities (such as floor magnets or navigational beacons). They navigate by the natural features of the facility, having been designed to move material within challenging environments that might include confined passageways, as well as locations where there might be people moving around. Omron’s software also integrates with a company’s other systems so that the robots can become operational in minimal time.

Esa Korhonen, area sales mnager at Omron in Finland explains, “Our mobile robots can dramatically boost the productivity of logistics operations. They can navigate effectively and provide invaluable support to human workers. This enables employees to focus on other tasks that require complex human skills.”

Kaisi Spilling concludes, “We are looking for new agile logistics solutions in the city. We are exploring how we could improve the smoothness of everyday life in building the future. Robotics is essentially related to a smooth everyday life.” •

Omron – www.industrial.omron.co.za