Three driverless vehicles – or autonomous robot carriers (ARCs) – will be cruising in central Vilnius for two months, delivering groceries from one of Iki supermarkets.
The service is operated by LastMile, a delivery startup operated by the supermarket chain.
Orders will be collected from the Iki shop on Mindaugo Street and delivered free of charge to customers living in the Naujamiestis and Senamiestis (Old Town) areas of central Vilnius.
“We believe that this will give us a significant advantage in the area of shopping delivery, because even in the city centre, even during rush hours, customers will receive their goods quickly,” said Tadas Norušaitis, CEO and co-founder of LastMile, presenting the launch on Tuesday.
According to the company, this makes Vilnius the first city in Europe with a delivery service by self-driving vehicles. They will be able to service seven customers in a single trip.
Vaida Budrienė, spokeswoman for Iki, told BNS that the two months will represent the second phase of testing, where the autonomous vehicles will be trialled in heavy traffic conditions.
Last year, LastMile tested them in the Vilnius suburban district of Balsiai.
“Now we are the first city in Europe to test autonomous cars on busiest streets and in real-life traffic for two months. [...] This is a much bigger stage and if all goes well, this is our future,” enthused Budrienė.
The autonomous vehicles were developed by Clevon, a company based in Estonia.
The delivery vehicles will reportedly travel at speeds of up to 25 kilometres per hour. They are equipped with 360-degree cameras and special sensors. Moreover, the vehicles will be monitored in real time by teleoperators.
The LastMile platform currently has more than 300,000 registered users in Lithuania.
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