Project introduction ---

URBANE tackles last-mile challenges in urban logistics

Artikkelikuva: Project introduction

Objective

The purpose of the four-year URBANE project is to test various last-mile solutions in cities in order to reduce traffic congestion and emissions caused by urban logistics distribution. The project will test and develop new solutions, such as autonomous distribution platforms, and seek commercially viable operating models for last-mile challenges.

The URBANE project will pilot new solutions in Helsinki, Thessaloniki (GR), Valladolid (ES), Bologna (IT), Karlsruhe (DE) and Barcelona (ES).

Duration, funding, partners

Duration: 1 September 2022 – 28 February 2026

The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation funding programme. There are 41 partners involved in the project, and its total budget for the four-year period is approximately 11 million euros. Forum Virium Helsinki’s involvement in the project spanned the first two years of the project (until 31 August 2024), and its share of the project’s total budget was 96,250 euros.

The project is coordinated by Inlecom Innovations (GR). Other Finnish partners involved in the project besides Forum Virum Helsinki included the City of Helsinki, LMAD and DB Schenker.

The role of Forum Virium Helsinki

Forum Virium’s role is to support the pilot projects to be carried out in Helsinki: identifying new applications, pilot sites and partners for autonomous delivery robots and providing the consortium with an understanding of the potential of autonomous vehicles and the challenges they face in Helsinki. Forum Virium will cooperate with the project consortium with regard to research collaboration and data collection, in addition to which it will participate in the development of the innovation platform to be built in the project.

Achievements

The pilot projects in Helsinki were be carried out by the shipping and logistics company group DB Schenker; LMAD, which develops autonomous distribution platforms; and SOBEN (TwinswHeel), which develops autonomous solutions, in cooperation with Forum Virium Helsinki and the City of Helsinki.

The pilots that were carried out in Helsinki under the URBANE project were based on work completed in previous projects such as Last Mile Autonomous Delivery (LMAD); a robot intended for use in urban logistics was built based on the GIM Robotics of LMAD and successfully tested on the Baana bicycle path and the Jätkäsaari area in Helsinki in cooperation with DB Schenker. URBANE will identify and test new applications in which new solutions could facilitate last-mile logistics in densely populated city districts and, by doing so, reduce heavy vehicle traffic.

The Helsinki pilot was implemented in three phases during the summers of 2023 and 2024, as well as the autumn of 2023. The pilots tested both the transportation of tools with an autonomous delivery robot and a cargo bike from Würth Center Sörnäinen to construction sites in Kalasatama, as well as home deliveries of e-commerce parcels using a delivery robot equipped with a parcel locker system in Ruoholahti district. The delivery robot enabled home deliveries at desired times, eliminating the need for consumers to wait all day for their packages. Furthermore, the pre-defined pick-up points were generally closer to homes than traditional parcel lockers.

The most significant benefits were the improved services offered to residents, zero-emission last-mile delivery, and collaboration between logistics operators, which could lead to urban consolidation centres becoming the norm for local no-emission distribution in the future.

Benefits for Helsinki

The pilot projects to be carried out in Helsinki will provide information on such things as the opportunities offered and challenges faced by cargo bikes and autonomous delivery robots with regard to the last mile. The URBANE project will identify and test new ways to reduce emissions and traffic congestion in the city by making use of new solutions. Additionally, it will provide a better understanding of what the use of autonomous robots in the urban space means from the perspective of residents and the city.

In the media

Photo and videos: Vesa Laitinen, Forum Virium Helsinki