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

23 Autonomous Electric Transport levels Einride has defined its own Autonomous Electric Transport (AET) levels that represent progressively more complex ODDs. Hallgren says they are a superior way to roll out autonomous transport that is based on the use case rather than human involvement. He explains that AET levels 1 and 2 represent closed facilities and local deliveries on public roads, while levels 3 and 4 focus on highways and general rural and intermediate routes. The latter, he acknowledges, are more complex and will require the supporting infrastructure to be expanded to operate at scale. Lastly, AET level 5 covers operations in urban areas, which Hallgren emphasises is by far the most complicated environment but also the least important for logistics operations because the bulk of them take place in the less complex environments represented by AET levels 1 to 4. “With these four levels, AET can account for most freight activities, reducing CO 2 and other harmful particulate emissions by more than 90% and cutting costs in half,” he says. Einride was founded in 2016, and the original concept for the Pod was developed during that year, with the first model entering service at customer logistics specialist DB Schenker’s site in 2018. Hallgren says that in 2019 it became the first fully autonomous heavy transport vehicle to operate on a public road. In terms of development status with respect to operations, AET levels 1 and 2 have been used in commercial pilot projects in cooperation with customers since 2018, with levels 3 and 4 currently in development. Hallgren says there are plans to reach roads around the world by 2023. Einride next-gen Pod | Dossier Unmanned Systems Technology | April/May 2021 The Pod on an autonomous lap of a racing circuit as part of demonstration of the self- driving system’s performance (Images courtesy of Einride unless stated otherwise)