Croatian Post deploys Gideon Brothers robots in pilot project

"The robots will speed picking and transport at the high-rack facility and, in the sorting area, transport incoming mail from vehicles to processing locations," Gideon brothers said in a statement.

The project is part of the state-owned postal operator's 2022 strategy, which follows industry 4.0 trends towards digital and internet-based system communication between machines, people, and product and business systems, the statement said.

The self-driving logistics robots can carry loads of up to 800 kg, and can safely manoeuvre around people, equipment and other moving machines. Their technology is based on visual perception that combines deep learning (AI) with stereoscopic cameras to create a new generation of robotic vision, Gideon Brothers said.

The Croatian Post controls 80% of the domestic postal market, and offers as well a variety of financial and other services.

In September, the company opened its new 350 million kuna ($52 million/47 million euro) sorting centre near Velika Gorica, south of Zagreb, and in November acquired Locodels, a local sharing economy-based startup for city delivery services.

Gideon Brothers was founded in 2017 with the help of some 5 million euro ($5.5 million) investment from angel investors and venture capital firms.

In October, Germany's DB Schenker introduced into service its autonomous logistics robots at its Leipzig facility, expanding a previous pilot project, Gideon has said.

(1 euro = 7.43871 kuna)