Working in Veberöd Smart Villages using new technologies to create social benefits. In the fall of 2023, they will come together Lund Municipality, Coop in Veberöd, Pharmacy in Veberöd, Hugo Delivery and School of Business at the University of Gothenburg in project form to investigate how the delivery robot Hugo (Hugo means Here U Go) can be used to provide increased value for the villagers. Hugo drives on the footpath at a maximum of 6 km/h, runs on electricity and can basically drive for 24 hours on a single charge. Veberöd will start with attempts to send food and pharmacy goods to elderly people living at home or in special accommodation.

- Hugo is a micromobility system that opens up new possibilities for transporting goods on a bicycle track, says Jan Malmgren at Smart Villages. The first tests will be to deliver food from Coop and goods from the pharmacy to, among other things, the retirement home Vevrehuset. We are doing this in collaboration with the Lund County Health and Care Administration, and in the first tests we are looking at how we can deliver to Vevrehjem but also to the elderly who still live at home.

Hugo Delivery is the company behind the delivery robot Hugo, which is an autonomous and monitored delivery solution for last mile deliveries. The robot is climate-friendly in that it is battery-powered.

- We at Hugo Delivery have previously done projects in Stockholm with Post Nord and in Borås with Gina Tricot, says Carl Berge. Now we want to move from prototype to working product, and for us it is beneficial to start small in a village like Veberöd.

Smart Villages has already listed a range of other possible applications. Some could include sending home library books to borrowers and homework to absent students from school. Other ideas include lunches to companies, deliveries from companies without their own retail space, and as an opportunity for individuals to pass things between each other, for example to borrow things from each other in a tool pool.

At the special accommodation Vevrehjem you look forward to the test.

- Most users in special accommodation need help with purchases, and perhaps this can give some users more freedom to be able to order goods themselves, says Magnus Wigh, who works at Vevrehuset. There are many good suggestions for what the robot can be used for in the project and I also think we will discover new things to use it for.

The benefits of transporting with Hugo could be many.

- In addition to examining the technical and economic aspects, we also want to investigate how Hugo can affect emissions and noise, says Jan Malmgren. We will measure this with the help of sensors. Increasing social sustainability is also a very important part. One might imagine that if Hugo transports food home to a person it is practical but the person might feel even more locked up and alone. As an experiment, we would therefore like to test offering to send, for example, the dish of five of the day to a group of elderly people so that they can eat together at each other's homes. Technology should be for society so that it leads to well-being.

In the village there are several companies interested in the test with Hugo, and included in the project from the beginning are the Coop and the Pharmacy in the village.

- The main task of a pharmacy is to ensure that customers receive medicines and can use them correctly, says Nebil Charchafche at Veberöd pharmacy. This could be a way for them to get their meds. I am involved in developing the pharmacy's ability to help its customers. Of course, I will follow the rules that exist for Pharmacies regarding the handling of medications. This is a project of the future. For example, one would imagine that society could use a robot like Hugo in the event of, for example, a pandemic, then it might be a safer way to get their medicines.

The project is three years old and is funded by Vinnova.

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Implementation of delivery robots in Smart Villages

Project Time: July 2023 - June 2026

Coordinator: Hugo Delivery AB

Project partners: Smart Villages, Lund Municipality, Coop in Veberöd, Pharmacy in Veberöd, Hugo Delivery, School of Economics at the University of Gothenburg.