Droids conquering Toulouse
The Twinswheel start-up, deployed in Lot (46), continues to expand in the south of France. After Nice and Montpellier, these autonomous robots are beginning to assert their presence in the streets of Toulouse.
They look like big toys with their bright colors… And yet, they are indeed functional robots, built in Cahors by the Soben company, in the Lot.
Last September in Montpellier, a small droid in the colors of the Post Office appeared, and will be in service until 2023. The objective of using this intelligent robot named Stef is twofold: to reduce the load on postmen by restocking them during their rounds and avoiding congestion in the city center.
These machines can carry up to 300 kilos and make it easier, for example, to carry heavy tools or even move pallets… But smaller models also exist.
Those that can carry a maximum mass of 40 kilos have been designed to assist people with reduced mobility in their daily trips, such as going shopping when you are elderly.
Benjamin Talon, president of Soben and co-founder of Twinswheel
This model, named TH03-wood, is in fact a reissue of the company’s very first robot. It was presented at the CES – “Consumer Electronics Show”, the show dedicated to technological innovation in consumer electronics – in Las Vegas in 2017. It also gave its name to the start-up because it is made up of two wheels identical: “Twinswheel” means “twin wheels” in English.
This droid can reach a maximum speed of 6 km/h. Its body made of wood and not aluminum tends to minimize the carbon footprint of its production.
Since 2019, an experiment has been underway with Enedis. The Siden robot accompanies the technicians of the EDF subsidiary in the streets of the Pink City, thus allowing them to carry out interventions on foot in the heart of the city center.
Another ongoing experiment is that ofAutocampus, which tend to insert vehicles of the future into the landscape of Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse. Several robots will provide delivery services for books, parcels, food between students and faculties, laboratories and even the Crous. “Why not we can plan a delivery of breakfasts between 8 and 10 a.m., help the surface technicians from 10 to 11 a.m., a delivery of meals or parcels from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.…”imagine Benjamin Talon.
Although a relocation of the company is not suitable according to the president of Soben, projects with other Toulouse partners are to come, including a large-scale one, “a complete break with urban logistics” and which should see the light of day during the year…
To date, the mass marketing of autonomous vehicles is not authorized and will not be until 2023 “because as a whole they are not considered mature enough to be on our streets”explains the co-founder of Twinswheel. “That’s why, in the meantime, experiments are being set up.” The company currently sells about ten robots to companies every year.