Udelv, a Silicon Valley venture-backed company, has been selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) AFWERX program for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to improve flight line readiness by enhancing the delivery turnaround of time-critical equipment to and from maintenance tool rooms and back shop areas.
By providing an autonomous delivery solution, Udelv says it will reduce the delivery turnaround time of critical equipment and tools to and from maintenance tool rooms and other back shop areas that support aircraft maintenance to increase flight line readiness.
The company produces middle- and last-mile electric cab-less autonomous delivery vehicles called Transporters for multi-stop delivery runs. The first fully electric cab-less autonomous vehicle for multi-stop delivery features Udelv’s patented cargo robotics comprised of a suite of hardware and software for intelligent loading and unloading, state-of-the-art telematics and fleet management. It is ‘driven’ by Intel’s Mobileye autonomous driving sensors and computers. Udelv hopes to produce more than 50,000 Mobileye-driven Transporters by 2028, with commercial operations beginning in 2023.
“We are honored to work with the Air Force on an AFWERX SBIR contract,” said Udelv CEO Daniel Laury. ”Our work with this Air Force program addresses a critical need for speed and efficiency that Udelv’s autonomous technology can do well. Aircraft maintenance is much more productive if delivery time is enhanced by using the Transporter. Our vehicle offers sweeping cost reductions over traditional driver-based services.”