A robotic independently driving the metro to ship items turned a actuality in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, this week, marking the world’s first autonomous subway-based supply service.
On Monday, a cartoon-themed robotic efficiently navigated Shenzhen Metro Line 2, boarding a practice unassisted to ship items to 7-Eleven shops positioned in metro stations with out human help.
The trial run is a part of a joint mission between Shenzhen Metro Group and VX Logistics, a subsidiary of Vanke Group, an actual property and property administration firm, aiming to combine rail transit with robotic logistics. Utilizing AI-powered scheduling methods and multi-sensor navigation, the robots can plan optimum supply routes, keep away from pedestrians and independently handle practice boarding and station navigation.
The mission is within the testing part and shall be repeatedly adjusted based mostly on operational suggestions, in response to the logistics firm.
“Up to now, shops inside metro stations primarily relied on floor transportation for replenishment, usually dealing with issues similar to congestion throughout peak hours and difficulties in parking,” mentioned Li Yanyan, retailer supervisor of the 7-Eleven at Wanxia Station. “If robotic deliveries might be totally applied, it could drastically assist scale back supply prices and wasted time.”
As Shenzhen’s metro community expands, the demand for retail companies inside the system has elevated sharply, Li mentioned.
At the moment, 7-Eleven operates greater than 100 shops within the Shenzhen metro station community, serving about 9 million commuters every day. Nonetheless, conventional supply strategies are dealing with effectivity bottlenecks, significantly throughout peak hours when supply automobiles battle to entry metro station areas, Li mentioned.
Deploying round 41 of the robots would meet the peak-hour supply wants of all 7-Eleven shops within the Shenzhen metro system, in response to the logistics firm.
The town views the pilot as a part of its broader push towards clever city logistics. Shenzhen has launched a 2025-2027 motion plan to advertise “embodied clever robots”, designating all the metropolis as a testing floor for sensible applied sciences.
“Upon additional growth sooner or later, the mission will improve off-peak capability utilization of the metro system, ease highway visitors strain and drive city logistics towards clever and inexperienced growth,” mentioned Hou Shangjie, head of automation at VX Logistics.
The supply robotic integrates AI scheduling algorithms, mechanical chassis and different {hardware} and software program applied sciences, in response to Hou.
The clever scheduling system serves because the mind of the operation, permitting robots to plan routes based mostly on every day order volumes at completely different shops, particular retailer areas, supply time necessities, and metro capability.
“Primarily based on the system, the mission can obtain optimum path planning for a number of robots serving a number of shops,” Hou mentioned.
Applied sciences of the supply robots will bear steady optimization and iteration based mostly on efficiency information, Hou mentioned.
Already a world chief in robotics, with greater than 1,600 corporations and main deployments in factories, hospitals and public security, Shenzhen goals to pioneer sensible infrastructure and redefine how cities combine commerce, transportation and automation.
Keep forward of the curve with NextBusiness 24. Discover extra tales, subscribe to our e-newsletter, and be part of our rising group at nextbusiness24.com