Rewe and Vodafone are presenting themselves as technological pioneers with Europe's first self-driving kiosk.
In Cologne, customers can still encounter the Snack-Mobil until the end of October.
Do you stick to a funny idea or is the autonomous kiosk a real problem solver?
Cologne - At the Carlswerk in Cologne, passers-by are currently encountering an unusual vehicle on four wheels: The autonomous snack mobile from Rewe is on the move in cooperation with Vodafone.
Customers can wave to the mobile and choose between 32 different snacks and drinks.
Payment is of course contactless, there is no driver or seller.
Is this what the delivery services of the future will look like?
Or does the Snack-Mobil solve a problem that doesn't even exist?
Rewe Snack-Mobil has already completed 200 test kilometers
For two months now, the Snack-Mobil has been on test drives at the Carlswerk in Cologne between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
A total of 200 kilometers came together, the top speed is six kilometers per hour.
The test phase ended on August 30th and the rolling kiosk went live.
Rewe announced that this should initially last until the end of October this year.
"With the Snack-Mobil we are testing the future of autonomous mobility together with our project partner Vodafone," said Rewe.
Consumers can find the current location of the vehicle using the “Rewe Snack Mobil” app.
The prices of the snacks correspond to supermarket prices.
Europe's first self-driving booth: Innovation made in Cologne.
Great thing @rewe_group @HendrikWuest pic.twitter.com/IXdLgEa92m
- Henriette Reker (@HenrietteReker) August 30, 2021
Snack-Mobil tester: "It just drove past me"
Autonomous driving is based on machine learning algorithms.
The vehicle orients itself in the room using sensors and cameras and forwards the information to the central control unit via a fast network.
This constantly compares the current location with the stored route and makes corrections.
A simple wave should bring the rolling kiosk to a stop, cameras and sensors recognize this hand signal.
With a tester from the Youtube channel Signatrix, the stop did not work so well: "It just drove [...] past me." Fortunately, the Snack-Mobile also has three stops where you can check the car.
Actually, contactless payment by credit card, smartwatch or smartphone should work, but that didn't work either: "The technician kindly tried to pay with his watch too, he opened the thing again and reconnected the cable." All to no avail, the tester pulled without his snack going away.
He was also disappointed that he couldn't simply pay using the “Rewe Snack Mobil” app.
However, that was still in July, at the beginning of the test phase, which has now been completed.
Payment by credit card and smartphone should currently work without any problems.
That is why the Snack-Mobil does not have a TÜV
In Germany, autonomous vehicles are allowed to drive without a safety driver on board. On May 20, 2021, this law was passed with the votes of the Union, SPD and FDP. The Federal Republic thus has a leading role internationally. However, there are also limits: the autonomous vehicles are only allowed to drive on certain specified routes. A technical supervisor who could intervene must also always be nearby. That is why the Snack-Mobil does not officially have a TÜV, as it is not allowed to take part in road traffic everywhere. Rewe and Vodafone emphasize, however, that the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and TÜV closely accompanied the test drives.
A pilot project for autonomous driving is also running in the USA: the test phase for driverless taxis from Google subsidiary Waymo began in Arizona last year.
On the whole, the system works well, but sometimes the computer is confused by small obstacles.
That was entertaining in the case of a test drive by Joel Johnson.
When the company's technical staff wanted to intervene because the car was standing still, the self-driving vehicle suddenly took flight, as the video shows:
Snack-Mobil: Mobile village shop of the future?
Opinions on the innovation from Rewe and Vodafone are divided on Twitter. The Junge Union Lindenthal, for example, thinks it is “strong”. “Those at REWE already have packing stations for groceries. Seems to be an innovative company. Germany needs more of that. Much more! ”Says another user and another finds the vehicle“ impressive ”. But critical voices are also being raised. “Nobody needs it”, thinks one user, “absurd”, says another. “Who is liable if the vehicle has an accident - even with personal injury? Is data protection guaranteed? ”Asks a Twitter user critically and thus sums up the concerns of some customers well. For another, however, the self-driving kiosk does not go far enough: “When will the air taxi finally arrive?” The user wants to know ironically.
The fact that private companies have taken the lead in the Snack-Mobil case doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. It can drive development and encourage imitators. DHL, for example, recently bought the world's first fleet of electric aircraft. The parcel delivery service wants to achieve an emission-free future for logistics. This could serve as a model for other industries and fuel innovation. Just like the Snack-Mobil from Rewe and Vodafone. For example, it could advance the “mobile village shop” project of the Frauenhofer Institute. This is a delivery concept for rural regions, a kind of rolling supermarket. Its aim is “to maintain or even create jobs in addition to improving local supply.” Europe's first self-driving kiosk has a lot of potential, it remains to be seen whetherwhether he can meet expectations.
