German transportation software developer PTV Group has revealed that it is one of the six innovation partners working on the ‘efeuCampus’ (eco-friendly experimental urban logistics) research project that will trial last-mile deliveries with robotic vehicles.
The aim of efeuCampus, located at Bruchsal in Germany’s Karlsruhe technology region, is to create a unique urban reference district for autonomous mobility of goods. With ever-increasing rise in online trade, the distribution of goods, especially the last-mile, is becoming an ever-greater challenge. Congestion, as well as air and noise pollution, are increasingly becoming a problem in metropolitan areas. To counteract this, an experimental laboratory is now being set up in a real urban district, a former barracks site with around 240 inhabitants, offices, laboratories and a school. The aim is to develop and test pioneering supply and disposal systems for parcel and waste handling, including the use of autonomous robotic delivery vehicles.
The lighthouse project has been funded by grants from the European Union’s Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for ‘Innovation and Energy’ and the Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Six partners have joined forces to create a project consortium on behalf of the city of Bruchsal, that is supported by the TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe (TRK). The project partners are: PTV as the planning and simulation software supplier; the Bruchsal-based technology company SEW Eurodrive, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT); Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences; the Research Center for Computer Science; and the service company b.i.g.
“We are looking forward to supporting this groundbreaking project with our solutions and expertise,” commented Marcel Huschebeck, PTV’s logistics research portfolio manager, who is managing the project for the company. “Our task will be to analyze the transport planning aspects and integrate this area-based solution into existing distribution structures. In order to enable optimized route planning, we will adapt our software to the framework requirements of the efeuCampus, for example.”
Bruchsal’s Mayor, Cornelia Petzold-Schick, said, “With this visionary innovation project, we have our fingers on the pulse of mobility, aiming at freight transport in urban areas that is emission-free, economically viable and attractive for all generations.”
