We went to a trade fair in Paris, listened to experts and listed four things with a major impact on the development of autonomous transport. These include such things as the shortage of drivers.
The arrival of autonomous vehicles on the roads and in public transport has been prepared for years, but when will they really become commonplace? What is the current state of autonomous transport? In spring 2023, we visited Autonomy Mobility World Expo (AMWE) in Paris in the context of the AutoMod project that develops circular economy robotics. We compiled our best insights into a blog post with observations and predictions from experts.
These include the general shortage of drivers, the need to reduce emissions from truck traffic, the potential for last-mile transport and public acceptance. The driver shortage and the need to reduce emissions from heavy goods vehicle traffic are likely to accelerate the development. The same is true for last-mile solutions for parcel and other deliveries, which Forum Virium Helsinki has also experimented with.
Public acceptance, in turn, depends on increasing people’s confidence in autonomous vehicles. In addition to this, the authorities will have to approve them. Regulation poses a challenge to the robotics and automotive sectors if it is country-specific. Therefore, there should be a single European regulation for autonomous vehicles.
At the event, it was estimated that autonomy is most likely to become widespread in areas other than passenger cars first, as there are many different aspects of general road traffic that AI needs to be able to perform in order to function.
At best, the potential benefits of autonomous vehicles could translate into increased safety in urban transport, reduced congestion and improved accessibility to services and other destinations.
Read the full story and learn more about the four observations on AutoMod’s own website (in Finnish).
Check out the project’s robot demo event!
The AutoMod – Autonomous Modulars project is piloting utility and service robots to respond to the circular economy challenges of smart cities, and a platform to transport them. The objective is to create a new kind of business ecosystem where utility and service robots transported on mobile platforms can solve circular economy challenges in smart cities.
Additional information
Noora Reittu
Project Manager
+358 40 848 1343
noora.reittu@forumvirium.fi
