Collect&Go, Belgian retail corporation Colruyt Group’s digital shopping service, has announced that it has been piloting an autonomous vehicle from Estonian technology company Clevon to find out if it can support distribution applications.
The company has said the bot uses remote teleoperation with advanced autopilot functionality and that, during the trial, the unmanned vehicle has covered a four-kilometre (2.4-mile) route along public roads.
This, the group claims, is the longest route ever covered on a public road in Belgium by an unmanned vehicle.
The bot travelled between Collect&Go’s distribution centre to a company pick-up point in Londerzeel.
Kim Vancauwenberghe, managing director of Colruyt Group Smart Technics, said: “In this first phase, we mainly want to test the technology, study what the vehicle is already capable of and see how, together with the local and federal government, we can provide not only safe, but also ecological transport on public roads in an urban environment.
“The tests not only provide useful insights for the online shopping service Collect&Go.
“Other formulas in our group are also following the study with great interest.”
What’s more, the digital retailer has said Collect&Go will be the first service in Belgium to test electric unmanned vehicles on public roads and that this is the first time a car without a physical on-board driver has taken to the road.
Sander Sebastian Agur, CEO of Clevon, said: “Our third-generation autonomous driving vehicle Clevon 1 has the necessary permits to drive on public roads in Estonia and Lithuania.
“Licence applications are pending in the United States and many other European countries.
“Our driverless, all-electric vehicles have already been in city traffic for 2.5 years with an impeccable safety record, proving that the technology is functional and safe for everyone around.”
To support the trial run, a licence was needed from the Federal Government Deptartment of Mobility to run a remote-controlled car on public roads. Other preparations for the trial included the mapping of potential risks by VIAS, a Belgian road safety institute.
