Issue 37 Unmanned Systems Technology April/May 2021 Einride next-gen Pod l Battery technology l Dive Technologies AUV-Kit l UGVs insight l Vanguard EFI/ETC vee twins l Icarus Swarms l Transponders l Sonobot 5 l IDEX 2021 report

22 S hort-range cargo transport is a major target for the disruptive technologies of autonomy and electrification, and Swedish freight mobility company Einride is aiming straight at it with its next-generation Pod. In cooperation with an impressive group of partners in the logistics, computing, vehicle technology and venture capital sectors, the company is developing what it refers to as a completely new way of shipping goods, to shake up an industry that acting CTO Per Hallgren characterises as far behind the cutting edge and having a major impact on global emissions. “The Pod represents a shift in freight mobility,” he says. “Designed from the ground up to be 100% electric, fully autonomous and with the ability for remote operation, it has the potential to transform logistics.” Einride considers the Pod to be the newest part of an ‘ecosystem’ that includes infrastructure and knowhow, with manned electric trucks already in service and the autonomous Pod as hardware and its freight mobility platform as software. “The idea is not to provide a direct one-to-one replacement for diesel but to transform freight as a whole to be both sustainable and intelligent,” Hallgren says. The level of autonomy chosen for the Pod is SAE Level 4, which is essentially full automation but with a human operator who can take control if necessary – in this case from a remote operations centre – and the ability to bring itself to a safe halt if for example the comms with the operator are interrupted. As with other Level 4 vehicles designed to operate without a human driver or supervisor aboard, the Pod will remain within a restricted operational design domain (ODD). Designed to operate at SAE Level 4, Swedish freight operator Einride’s autonomous Pod delivery truck aims to transform logistics operations. Peter Donaldson reports Next-level logistics April/May 2021 | Unmanned Systems Technology