Last mile drone delivery pilot gets underway in Sweden
Aerit has announced it will pilot drone delivery services to the Swedish archipelago in collaboration with ICAx, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and Norrtälje municipality. The announcement follows selection of the project for funding by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova via the ‘Drones in Service of the Climate for Autumn of 2021’ call.
The one-year project unites stakeholders from business, research, innovation, and government, to study the benefits of drones in last-mile transport, and to accelerate the implementation of climate-neutral logistics.
“Drone delivery has the potential to reduce emissions from last-mile logistics,” said Lei Chen, Senior researcher at RISE, who leads the project. “With reduced delivery time, it also helps to improve the service quality and accessibility in rural areas, which could support behavioural changes toward a climate neutral society. We will, through the project, conduct research to generate insights on the solution’s potential to create societal benefits.”
“We have a high level of enthusiasm for participation in this pilot study together with Peter Horwitz, the store owner of ICA Nära Gräddö Skärgårdshandel, and all pilot partners,” said Emma Lindahl, co-lead at ICAx, the innovation hub of ICA Gruppen. “Of course, drone delivery is a quickly developing field, and we believe that the timing is right to start exploring. The study aligns very well with some of our strategic ambitions and our wishes to make everyday a little easier for our customers with sustainable transport solutions.”
Norrtälje municipality has many islands and large rural areas providing an excellent arena to pilot drone delivery.
The project builds on Aerit’s drone delivery platform that aims to provide on demand access to a network of autonomous sky-couriers in the near-future.
Since founding the company in January of 2021, Aerit’s milestones include regulatory approval for operations under the EASA SORA framework, and successful completion of Sweden’s first commercial drone delivery of food in October of 2021. Aerit plans to launch continuous delivery services in select areas around Sweden in 2022.