38 Dossier | LOXO Alpha & Digital Driver Although the computer software described in this feature may sound complicated, the architecture’s middleware is built around the nowfamiliar ROS and ROS-2, with LOXO planning to migrate fully to ROS-2 in the near future. As one may expect, all data signals throughout the vehicle are transmitted over a network built on CAN 2.0b, being the most widespread safety-rated automotive standard, as well as an efficient tool for prioritising the delivery of data critical to safe driving. Beyond valley and mountain In late 2024, LOXO successfully launched its newest project area in Bern, for goods delivery with Swiss transportation and logistics firm Planzer. The Swiss autonomy company says this project area constitutes the largest testing zone (by geographical area) to date for an autonomous road vehicle in Europe, encompassing a street network totalling roughly 67 km of Bern’s challenging public roads and tunnels. The pilot project is slated to run for two years, principally using one of the aforementioned Mathilde vehicles to autonomously deliver packages across multiple middle-mile routes to 14 distributed micro-hubs. From those, the packages will be transferred manually to smaller electric vehicles for their last-mile delivery. Mathilde will, notably, be as uncrewed as Alpha in this project, fitting the SAE Level 4 bill closely; that is, working with no onboard safety driver and practically full autonomy, but within a defined and geo-contained area. If the collaboration successfully improves the efficiency of Planzer’s logistics (including emissions reduction, given that increasingly more uncrewed vehicles in operation seem to expend less energy than their crewed counterparts), Planzer and LOXO will expand the project to include other cities. In the meantime, LOXO has also opened its first subsidiary outside of Switzerland in Munich, the company having identified Germany’s middle-mile logistics market as being worth hundreds of billions of euros, and the country’s legislative environment being progressive towards the further development of self-driving vehicles. With new regulations on automated driving expected to be published later this year, one can no doubt expect LOXO and its vehicles to remain ahead of the game. April/May 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology LOXO Alpha SAE Level 4 autonomy Battery-electric Four in-wheel hub motors Dimensions: 3.5 m x 2 m x 1.9 m Empty weight: 800 kg Cargo capacity: 350 kg Range: 100 km between charges Maximum speed: 45 kph Operating speed: 30 kph Some key suppliers Lidar: Innoviz Lidar: Additional companies Certification advisory: CertX Code testing services: Vector High performance computers: Nvidia Maintenance and repairs: Noviv Mobility AG Key specifications LOXO’s newest project area in Bern, launched in late 2024 with Planzer, was geographically the largest testing zone for an autonomous road vehicle in Europe (at time of writing) The Swiss company has also just opened its first non-Switzerland subsidiary in Munich, to offer its solutions to Germany’s favourable regulatory environment and sizable middle-mile delivery market
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