On April 25, the scientific and technological project “Innovative Application Research on Intelligent Campus Delivery” jointly conducted by Postal Scientific Research and Planning Institute and the School of Modern Post of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) successfully passed the review of China Post Group. The project has independently developed an intelligent last mile delivery system centered on parcel stations and drop-and-pull delivery by unmanned vehicles on campuses, making it possible to connect the postal service system with the hardware channels of unmanned vehicles and achieving the innovation of the last mile drop-and-pull delivery by unmanned vehicles. It has thereby gained unanimous recognition from the review experts.

This project is a key scientific research task of the joint innovation laboratory of BUPT and China Post. Therefore, both parties have invested their efficient scientific research forces into it. The project team spent one year in breaking through in the core drop-and-pull technology of unmanned vehicles, thus achieved full integration of enterprises, universities and research institutes, and realized mutual complementarity, resource sharing and win-win cooperation.

Based on delivery by single unmanned vehicles, the intelligent campus delivery system has innovatively developed the intelligent following drop-and-pull technology planned and controlled through automatic platooning, and the mechanical traction drop-and-pull technology through soft robotics. By integrating unmanned vehicles and drop-and-pull lockers (intelligent express lockers), this system can improve delivery efficiency, meet diverse delivery needs, and eventually enhance customer experience.

At present, the unmanned drop-and-pull delivery vehicle has been officially put into operation on the Shahe campus of BUPT, with its overall system running steadily, safely, reliably and smoothly. In conjunction with the self-developed location selection algorithms for distribution sites, the unmanned vehicle can successfully deliver express packages from postal outlets to the library, teaching buildings, canteens and dormitory buildings, enabling the accurate last mile delivery from lockers to vehicles then to receivers.