Colruyt Group’s online shopping service, Collect&Go is now testing an unmanned CLEVON 1 vehicle on public roads in Belgium.
The CLEVON 1 operates with a combination of remote teleoperation and autopilot functionality. Following in-house testing, it is now being deployed on public roads for the first time.
The vehicle will complete a 4-kilometre route from Colruyt Group’s distribution centre to a Collect&Go pick-up point in Londerzeel. This is the longest route covered in Belgium by an unmanned vehicle.
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 CLEVON 1 vehicle uses vision technology, machine learning and sensors to operate without a driver onboard. It is equipped with three front cameras, two side cameras and one rear camera, as well as short- and long-range radars to determine its surroundings.
In a suitable environment, the vehicle can travel up to 50 kilometres per hour, but will operate at speeds of under 25 kilometres per hour during this initial test phase.
This deployment follows recent testing of the vehicle in the car park of the Collect&Go distribution centre.
Throughout operations, the CLEVON 1 will be remotely controlled by a teleoperator, and will communicate with the control room via 4G.
In autopilot mode, it perform autonomously, but will remain supervised by the teleoperator at all times.
Clevon’s team in Estonia is continuing to develop and improve the vehicle, so that in the future, one teleoperator could manage five to ten vehicles simultaneously.
