UK parcel delivery company DPD to utilise Ottonomy’s multi-compartment, fully autonomous locker robot in last-mile delivery services.
The Ottobot, which has a maximum payload of 70kg, is larger than DPD’s existing autonomous delivery robots and has eight separate compartments that carry parcels of different sizes, and can facilitate collections.
The robot features four-wheel powered swerve drive with independent steering and suspension, while multiple sensors including light detection and ranging lidars and cameras, as well as software, enable the Ottobot to navigate complex environments autonomously.
The first locker robot will be deployed in Milton Keynes, where the company has been operating autonomous robot deliveries since July 2022, using Cartken robots, which have also since been rolled out in Raunds, Bristol, and Lincoln.
The Ottobot will be based at DPD’s Milton Keynes depot in Knowlhill and will navigate the city’s traffic-free Redway network to access nearby residential neighbourhoods.
Once the locker robots have completed the mapping process, they operate fully autonomously.
From that point, customers will receive a message when the robot is outside their property, and will use a pin to open the robot and collect their parcels.
Director of marketing, communications & sustainability at DPDgroup UK Tim Jones said: “This is the next chapter for us in terms of autonomous deliveries after a very successful roll-out across a number of different locations.
“We’ve also learned a lot in terms of how best to deploy the technology and how to maximise the effectiveness of the robots day to day.”
Achievements and innovations in last-mile logistics will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector – and to book your table!
