Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed a joint development agreement with the autonomous driving technology start-up Coast Autonomous, to speed up the development and launch of robotic solutions across the mobile equipment offering.
In addition, the Finnish port equipment manufacturer has become a minority shareholder of Coast Autonomous, “to emphasise the common long-term interests of the partnership between the companies.”
Adrian Sussmann, president and chief financial officer of Coast Autonomous, claimed that the collaboration with Kalmar is the perfect application for its company’s technology. “We are at the dawn of a new era in robotics and the partnership with Kalmar validates our belief that safe autonomous vehicles will proliferate rapidly in industrial settings providing tremendous benefit and value for all,” he noted.
The joint development agreement and investment in Coast Autonomous follow the introduction of Kalmar Robotic Portfolio, a future range of flexible and autonomous mobile equipment solutions, designed to improve safety, eco-efficiency and productivity of cargo handling in ports and terminals, distribution centres and heavy logistics.
The California-based technology company has developed a proprietary autonomous vehicle system that includes mapping and localisation, robotics and artificial intelligence, fleet management and supervision.
In the initial phase, the partnership between Kalmar and Coast Autonomous will focus on the autonomous driving functionality of a terminal tractor namely Kalmar RoboTractor.
“Coast’s unique technology that addresses safety on each level and the broad experience in autonomous driving solutions provides us with a great opportunity to accelerate the robotisation journey and the launch of Kalmar Robotic Portfolio,” commented Lasse Eriksson, vice president for technology at Kalmar.
