Through a partnership with talabat and sponsorship of Vodafone and support from Qatar Foundation Research, Development and Innovation, Qatari firm Airlift System's driverless vehicle is set to serve Education City occupants for three months.
Students and staff at the Male Students Housing Building, Guest Residence Building and Female Students Housing Building will have the opportunity to order through talabat platform and get their orders delivered via the driverless vehicle, according to a statement.
Education City residents will be able to place orders on talabat and pay online to get their deliveries just in time. As soon as the restaurant trigger the pickup alarm, Airlift vehicle will be driven to the restaurant location and initiate the loading sequence.
Once completed, order status will be changed to In-Route and customer will be notified as soon as the vehicle arrives at the nearest parking location and gets to view the location on the map. At the delivery point, customers will use a QR code to unlock the vehicle’s compartment and receive the package securely.
Delivery trips will start from Multaqa Building. The vehicle will be driving at speed limited to 6 km/h, which is equivalent to human walking pace. Route used will be strictly limited to sidewalk and roadway for crossings only.
This pilot is a trial of the vehicle’s capacity to show astute conduct comparable to, or indistinct from, that of a human.
"It will also aim at obtaining consumer feedback and using it to develop strategies that ensures consumer satisfaction in a long-term deployment. Ultimately, it's an opportunity to prove that this technology will play a significant role in reducing carbon footprint and addressing traffic safety concerns.
Ahmed Mohamedali, CEO of Airlift Systems, said: “We’re eager to work with enterprises to experiment with our self-driving technology which is cost effective and agile to capture its value and augment their staff productivity. And we’re very glad to have formed this unique partnership with talabat Qatar and thankful for the support from Vodafone and QF-RDI office to enable this pilot in Qatar.”
The vehicle will be monitored remotely in a control room at the Education City, equipped with a real-time low latency feedback from the vehicle supported by Vodafone 5G network. This will allow the operator to have access to control the vehicle in emergency cases and to stop the vehicle when needed.
talabat Qatar managing director Francisco Miguel Sousa, said: “For the coming time, the local startup Airlift team has been at the forefront of this effort — and in joining forces with talabat, the team is now in pole position to look for solutions to deliver on that promise even faster. I’m looking forward to start working with Ahmed and Airlift, Vodafone and Qatar Foundation to bring to the talabat network and its customers the latest innovation our industry has seen.”