Smart vehicles deployed for delivery duties in communities
E-commerce giant JD.COM has deployed smart delivery vehicles to Jiading to help with material distribution during the lockdown of local communities.
Community workers load the smart vehicles with goods that residents purchase online. After the door is closed, the car starts automatically.
After arriving at the preset designated building, the car stops itself. At this time, the neighborhood volunteer in charge will receive a text message from JD.COM with a pick-up code.
The volunteer then comes to the front display screen of the vehicle. After inputting the pick-up code, the vehicle door automatically pops open. The volunteer puts the goods ordered by residents in the building into it for door-to-door distribution.
A volunteer puts in a pick-up code to open the smart delivery vehicle to put what residents ordered into it for door-to-door distribution.
The smart vehicles help shorten the whole process from previously more than two hours to now less than 10 minutes.
For instance, the Xi'an Lanting housing estate in Nanxiang houses more than 6,000 people who make around 400 delivery orders every day. This previously involved a labor force of more than 20 community workers and volunteers.
The introduction of smart delivery vehicles has alleviated the distribution pressure.
"Each vehicle can hold 30 to 40 items, saving us a lot of time," said Wang Gaoxiang, property manager of the housing estate.
The smart delivery vehicles are developed by Ecar Tech, a technology enterprise based in Jiading and are all made in Nanxiang.
Red shell, compact body and cute shape – they're the distinguishing features of a number of autonomous vehicles shuttling back and forth in residential compounds in Nanxiang.
The "novel cars" are designed for delivering goods and have attracted the attention of many Nanxiang residents.
JD.COM delivers materials through the smart car in communities in Jiading.
According to the company, the vehicles' main purpose is to operate in the mode of dispatcher loading plus unmanned vehicle transportation.
Each vehicle has one LIDAR on the top, four blinding radars and 10 cameras, allowing it to qualify for L4 level automatic driving.
The vehicle automatically drives to the destination in line with prepared instructions. It can deliver 36 to 100 orders at a time and carry 100 kilogram of goods. The vehicle has a range of about 100 kilometers, according to the company.
At present, Ecar Tech has put 10 smart delivery vehicles into operation in Nanxiang Town.
