Aerit starts pilot project for drone delivery in Sweden – TechAcute
Stockholm, Sweden, December 6, 2021 – Today, Aerit, a Swedish startup founded in January, focused on sustainable drone delivery, announced that they will be doing a 1-year pilot project in the Norrtälje municipality’s archipelago. The project will be carried out in collaboration with ICAx, RISE (Swedish Research Institute) and Norrtälje municipal administration.
The project was selected as part of a call for innovation with the scope “Drones in the service of the climate – autumn 2021”Funded by the Innovation Agency Vinnova. Stakeholders in this project include companies and authorities, but further this will provide relevant data for research, with the aim of studying the benefits of using drones for last mile transport and logistics over traditional means such as cars or ships, with a focus on climate neutrality.
Several large companies, such as Amazon, have previously considered using airborne drone technology for last-mile delivery of goods to consumers. However, Amazon is not available in all countries, and even where it is, they have still not rolled out drone deliveries holistically. In addition to compliance requirements, there are also many safety aspects to keep an eye on when talking about flying drones that carry payloads and fly over properties and people.
Like many archipelagos, Norrtälje municipality also consists of many islands and the area could primarily be considered more rural than urban. It is precisely this type of location that would constitute a good test site for such a pilot project. Daniel Klemserud, business development manager for Norrtälje municipality, says, “Norrtälje municipality looks forward to working with this innovative project. We see diverse opportunities for all companies and residents in the archipelago, in the countryside and in our city centers. We believe that this project has great potential for positive impact both environmentally and financially. ”
Aerit’s Nimbi drones can carry 4 kg
Despite being a young startup, Aerit strives to establish an airborne delivery network for drones to cover Sweden. Their drone model is called Nimbi, is battery powered and can carry a payload with a maximum capacity of four kilos. They included an autonomous winch system on the drone, which allows it to pick up and drop off packages without operators or customers having to do anything manually.
Related story: IBM files a patent for coffee delivery drones
“We are very happy about this project in collaboration with some of Sweden’s leading institutions,” he said Alexander Perrien, CEO of Aerit. “We hope to be able to show that Aerit can improve the lives of those in areas covered by our services, offset the climate impact from last – mile delivery overall and, of course, make things more comfortable for everyone involved.”
Being able to only transport packages with up to four kilos reduces the total volume of shipments that Aerit could handle, but on the other hand, a large segment of all shipments in consumer-related logistics fall into this category. Lei Chen, a senior researcher at RISE who leads the project, adds: “Dron delivery has the potential to reduce emissions from last-mile logistics. With reduced delivery times, it also helps to improve service quality and accessibility in rural areas, which could support behavioral change towards a climate-neutral society “Through the project, we will conduct research to generate insights into the solution’s potential to create societal benefits.”
ICAx is an organization with the goal of identifying and analyzing new business opportunities. They define customers’ needs and take advantage of innovation that can be a solution to today’s problems. Emma Lindahl, co-leader at ICA, concludes: “We have a high level of enthusiasm to participate in this pilot study together with Peter Horwitz, the store owner of ICA Nära Gräddö Skärgårdshandel, and all pilot partners. Of course, the delivery of drones is a rapidly growing area, and we believe the timing is right to start exploring. “…” The study agrees very well with some of our strategic ambitions and our desire to make every day a little easier for our customers with sustainable transport solutions. “
Next to this pilot project, Aerit plans to launch continuous delivery services in additional selected areas around Sweden in 2022. On a global scale, competition for airborne drone delivery and last-mile logistics includes companies and solutions such as Amazon Prime Air, Flytrex, Wing, UPS Flight Forward, Wingcopter, DHL Parcelcopter , FedEx, Flirtey, Zipline, Matternet and Boeing.
YouTube: Aerit Tech Demo March 2021
Photo credit: The images shown are owned by Aerit and provided as part of a press release.
Source: Aerit press release
Did this article help you? If not, let us know what we missed.