Clevon is a spin-off of Cleveron, an Estonian company that produces robotics-based parcel terminals and developed the technology-in house before splitting it off into a new venture to commercialise it. Putting innovation into practice, Clevon was the first company in Europe to get the permit to operate on public roads with its unmanned teleoperated vehicles and has already clocked up over 40,000 kilometres globally. In a pilot project in collaboration with DHL Express Estonia, the driverless robot courier named Clevon1 has provided parcel delivery services in Tallinn’s medieval Old Town since 2022, and is continuing to run more tests during 2023 in other districts of the Estonian capital. Other trials with the vehicle, which is designed as multifunctional platform and can serve different business needs, are being conducted in Belgium, Lithuania and the US. Being about half the size of a typical delivery van and driverless, the DHL-liveried robot courier has been an eye-catcher on the streets of Tallinn and gained plenty of attention. By-passers stopped and took photos and videos with their cell phones. Most people reacted with smiles and curiosity, some were confused and puzzled, while others seemed not to notice them at all, as Baltic Business Quarterly observed when accompanying and following the robot courier during one of its delivery trips in Tallinn in May. One of the main aims of the pilot project for DHL has been to test the benefits of the new courier solution, collect data and gain experience for electrifying the last-mile delivery. “We want to look into how delivery robots can fit into our operations and contribute to our overall goals of becoming a zero-emissions carrier by 2050”, said Rauno Mäger, Sales and Marketing Director at DHL Express Estonia, during a visit to the logistics centre of the international courier and parcel service provider near Tallinn airport. From there, a robot courier autonomously took parcels to customers by sharing roads with passenger vehicles at an allowed maximum speed of 25 kilometres per hour to transport the package to the recipients. “We simply put the parcels on the courier and it then delivers them to the customer’s doorstep”, explains Andrei Markov, Network Operations Director at DHL Express Estonia. The robot sends an SMS notification to the customer when it starts moving and when it arrives at the customer’s address. The cargo box can accommodate deliveries up to a total weight of 100 kilograms in separated lockable compartments, and the driving range is said to be 100 kilometres or five hours on a single battery charge, with the fully electric vehicle able to function 24/7 between charges and in all weather conditions, including snowy Estonian winters. Positive customer reception During the first test phase from autumn 2022 to the end of January 2023, the parcel locker on wheels served one customer at a time and the recipients were pre-arranged business customers of DHL. The second test phase this summer saw it delivering parcels to up to six individual customers in a single trip. All of them received a unique encrypted code by SMS to open the parcel compartment when the robot arrived at its delivery destination. “I was very surprised, positively surprised. I did not expect it to be delivered like this and to arrive in such fashion”, said one middle-aged recipient from Mustamäe named Kristian after taking his parcel out of the robot courier in awe, describing it as a “very interesting experience” which he thought people could quickly get used to. “I would say it is convenient. It was pretty accurate on letting me know when it was going to arrive, which was really useful, and I think having an automatic parcel coming to your door is very nice”, he told Baltic Business Quarterly, adding, “I think there will be something like this in the future – for sure.” Delivery done, the front door of the house closes, and the parcel compartment goes down. The delivery robot bounces down the side street, heads back to the main road and follows the route to its next destination. Equipped with 360-degree cameras and special sensors, it safely manoeuvres its way through the traffic. The vehicle knows which lane it is in, which direction it is heading, and which right-of-way rules apply. Navigation is carried out using GPS, while customers can track the goods and see where their package is. After retrieving her parcel from the cargo hold, the next customer named Anna raved about the autonomous robot delivery as a “cool idea”. But she also considered it “a little bit strange and uncomfortable because it did not see my building. So I had to walk all the way here”, the younger woman said at the drop-off point next to the Magistral shopping mall where the courier stopped and she picked up her parcel. “In general, however, it is very nice, I think. I liked it”, she added before walking back to her nearby apartment. Her experience reflects one of the main shortcomings of autonomous vehicle delivery: customers opting for it will still need to come down to the street or sidewalk – and so actually need to be at home by the time of delivery. Otherwise, they cannot receive the shipment. This is an all too familiar last-mile delivery problem that robots cannot solve yet either. During the delivery round of the DHL test robot accompanied by Baltic Business Quarterly, two out of six parcels could not be delivered because the recipient was not at home. Starship’s robots are less likely to experience this since people usually wait for their instant or same-day delivery after deciding to order food or groceries online. Nevertheless, customers still have to cover the last few metres to the package by themselves since the robots do not know how to climb stairs or use elevators, even though they are able to climb kerbs. What’s more, the handling of non-conventional deliveries and returns still favours human delivery, as we know it today. Setting new standards for convenient and sustainable delivery Both companies acknowledge these downsides but do not see them as a major obstacle for the widespread use or deployment of their self-driving vehicles. Talking to Baltic Business Quarterly, their representatives argued that their robots are already capable of catering to market needs and making last-mile delivery more efficient and more sustainable. More than 90% of the items people currently order online are small enough to fit in a delivery robot, which can be deployed quickly, even in city centres and during peak hours, according to Starship and Clevon. After experiencing a range of real-life cases, such as the delivery of groceries, ready-made food, convenience products, and other small packages, it can be said that robots certainly make it possible to reduce harmful emissions, traffic congestion and noise pollution levels in urban environments. This is especially true in densely populated areas such as inner cities whose infrastructure is being burdened by ever-increasing traffic, according to the two Estonian tech companies. By 2030, 36% more delivery vehicles are forecasted to roam in city streets globally. Not least because many small online orders will result in more frequent deliveries. Given that autonomous robots are primarily intended for door-to-door deliveries that are expected within a fixed time window, they could make a positive impact and provide both commercial and socio-economic benefits. Both manufacturers have made their vehicles as light as possible and designed them to consume very little energy, providing a green delivery option – without customers being forced to give up the comfort of ordering groceries, food or parcels to their home or office. Convenience and speed might result in fewer failed deliveries. Compared to regular delivery vans and conventional motor vehicles, the robotic couriers are more environmentally friendly and can easily navigate through the narrow streets of Tallinn’s Old Town, which is an active business location and popular tourist destination. Several built-in cameras and sensors give the vehicles a 360-degree view, provide data for rapid mapping and ensure that approaching obstacles are automatically detected to avoid collisions. When travelling on streets or sidewalks, the robots not only recognize other vehicles, pedestrians and potential obstacles, but also detect traffic lights and road signs – and follow the associated traffic rules. Safety is further ensured by constant monitoring in real-time: a remote teleoperator supervises the vehicle’s operations and can take over the control as and whenever necessary. With Clevon1, this is currently being done on a permanent basis: the robot still has to be controlled by human operators in the background due to legal restrictions. Legislation behind the technology Since the corresponding legislation in Estonia and elsewhere is still under development, the only way for Clevon to have autonomous driving vehicles on public roads right now is by teleoperation. This is carried out in a videogame-like set up from the control station with screens for all six cameras, and a console featuring a steering wheel, a chair and pedals for braking and accelerating. If something were to go completely wrong, the teleoperator – who by law needs to have a category B driving license and first must also complete a two-week course – can simply press a red button. Only one vehicle could be run at any given time and initially also had human accompaniment. “We first used a safety car that followed the vehicle during its journey on the road, but now in the second phase it has been driving all by itself and just getting supervised”, explains Mihkel Ilp, Chief Sales Officer of Clevon, adding that the pilot program has been very successful so far. “Our delivery robots have integrated into Tallinn’s busy everyday traffic very well and navigate without any problems or getting stuck. There have been no incidents, and customers have evaluated the innovative form of delivery positively.” Along with evolving regulations, Clevon says one operator should soon be able to control the journey of several couriers at the same time via the on-board cameras – as is the case with Starship’s sidewalk robots, which are already at an advanced stage of development. This makes its operation more cost-effective and can provide significant labour cost savings over the last mile. “The robots are 99%+ autonomous right now and have been operating at level 4 autonomy since 2018”, said Starship's marketing and communication manager, Henry Harris-Burland. Most of them deliver goods with little to no human intervention. One robot even recently completed 24 deliveries in a 16-hour period without any problems. “Because of this advanced technology, our business model works right now for autonomous delivery”, he said. “We have lower costs than human/traditional on-demand delivery, and this has taken many years of development to achieve.” In the long term, autonomous robot couriers could change the operational tasks performed by human workers and contribute to solving the industry-wide labour shortage while keeping up with the growing demand for more complex delivery services. Unlike their human counterparts, they might one day operate non-stop – and so robotic delivery could work 24 hours a day, according to the two fellow Estonian firms and competitors. The consultancy firm McKinsey even envisions a future where autonomous vehicles and drones will deliver almost 80% of all items. But for this to happen, there is still a long way to go. Regulatory hurdles as well as human involvement in robot delivery are currently still quite high. Mainstream adoption is still a long way off, but most industry giants have the issue in mind. Pilot projects with delivery robots or drones have been around for many years. The parcel service Hermes and the retail group Metro have tested the Starship robot in several major German cities, while DPD has also run trials with Clevon1 in Estonia. However, some big players are pulling out of the race. In October 2022, FedEx closed down its robot delivery program and, in the same month, Amazon announced that it was scaling back on the development of its autonomous delivery robot following a three-year trial period. After all, investment needs are high and it is not just about building the hardware and software, but also about bringing together the different elements of running a robot delivery fleet. Both Starship and Clevon claim to have already reached a point where they basically just put the robots on the ground and they start working. This would allow customers to ramp up operations quickly after integrating them into their systems and services, according to their representatives. Assessing its first deployment of driverless delivery robots, DHL so far seems to be positive about it. “We are satisfied with the results of the pilot. Parcels are delivered quickly, and we have got very good feedback from customers about the robot delivery. But we definitely would need to reschedule or change our way of working to be effective with this machine”, said Rauno Mäger, Sales and Marketing Director at DHL Express Estonia, to Baltic Business Quarterly, adding that the knowledge and experience gained will be also shared within the DHL group and in other countries. Whether, when and where the technology could be used across the board at DHL still remains open. There are no specific plans or timetables for any further steps yet. “DHL Express is a premium service and our aim is definitely not to replace all human couriers, but we need to fit into the new world too”, said Andrei Markov, Network Operations Director at DHL Express Estonia, who oversees how the customers' orders are transported and delivered. When it comes to autonomous vehicle technology, the German delivery giant and others have so far been looking closely into the processes behind the scenes. Digitalization and automation in the logistics industry are already well-advanced today – robots and autonomous vehicles are working in warehouses and shoulder tasks like lifting and moving around heavy boxes to speed up operations.