The Sharing Box boasts significant storage space. [Photo/official WeChat account of WHDZ]
The Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ) -- in Wuhan city in Central China’s Hubei province -- has been making huge progress in promoting unmanned deliveries, according to WHDZ officials.
They said it had done so with the introduction of the Sharing Box, an unmanned delivery logistics vehicle developed by resident auto manufacturer Dongfeng Motor Co.
China’s express delivery industry has been developing rapidly, with a total of 63.52 billion packages delivered in 2019.
According to Zhu Yanfeng, president of Dongfeng Motor Co, with the rapid development of online shopping and the online economy, the difficulties of the "last mile" of delivery have become increasingly prominent.
With the improvement of the internet infrastructure, the development of mobile internet technology and artificial intelligence, unmanned delivery vehicles can provide an effective solution to the problem of "last mile" delivery, he said.
The Sharing Box adopts cutting-edge technologies -- including intelligent sensing, intelligent interconnections and intelligent decision-making -- and combines scenario applications to provide smart logistics cooperation solutions.
Its makers said it was shaped as a cuboid and the body has no cab. The same number of containers and control screens are placed on both sides of the vehicle body.
The containers are divided into three types: large, medium and small. It can accept two users for express delivery.
According to Dongfeng officials, the Sharing Box can deliver packages to recipients anytime, anywhere and is expected to realize 24-hour automation in the future, effectively saving operating costs.
In addition, in response to user needs, research staff have added a transformable function to the Sharing Box. This makes it not only a courier cabinet, but also can be converted into mobile vending machines, book reading stations and to other forms.
Since its launch in September 2019, the Sharing Box has been effectively used in multiple scenarios due to its transformable features.
In WHDZ’s Hailun town, with the help of the Sharing Box, the residents of the community can now easily send and receive packages.
During the 7th CISM Military World Games -- held last October in Wuhan -- the Sharing Box was approved for demonstration operations in the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle (Wuhan) Test and Demonstration Zone.
Officials said the Sharing Box will be promoted to communities, university campuses, scenic spots, business parks and other venues in the future -- for express deliveries, consignments and sales, providing customers with convenient terminal delivery services.
