Winter-Hugo

Purpose and goal:

The system demonstrator "Winter-Hugo” develops and evaluates two transport services using a small, autonomous delivery robot. The transport services are co-developed together with the users to generate knowledge about autonomous transport of light goods in difficult winter conditions. The system demonstrator is designed to accelerate development towards a more fossil-free and inclusive transport system, for rural areas, within the Accelerate sub-programme of FFI.

Expected results and effects:

The project includes service design of autonomous transport services to strengthen Swedish preparedness, agriculture and forestry. We are aiming for an autonomous transport service that can transport supplies from storage to operational areas in the event of mobilization, while we are simultaneously investigating other use cases, "dual-use", in agriculture and forestry for increased resilience and food supply.

Approach and implementation:

The hardware used will be a winter-adapted version of the Swedish transport robot Hugo and the tests will be carried out partly in Tavelsjö-Rödåbygden near Umeå, partly at Rönnskärsverken in Skellefteå municipality. Both transport services can be performed with the same platform but are otherwise very different, giving us broader insights and useful solutions.

The project is led by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) and has a consortium of parties to develop an ecosystem for each transport service and joint knowledge building.