Many millions of parcels are sent in Germany every day. However, delivering them is time-consuming. Ever larger consignments, a shortage of staff and increasing cost pressure are pushing parcel services to their limits. Researchers at the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau are therefore working on a solution to automate delivery on the so-called "last mile".
The LATTICE junior research group has been at work at the WHZ Zwickau since the end of 2025. This stands for "Last Urban Autonomous Logistics". Behind the long name is a concrete idea: a self-driving transport station collects parcels from a distribution center and delivers them autonomously to the recipients' immediate vicinity. Recipients are informed via smartphone and can collect their parcel at a specified time. The system is designed to relieve delivery staff of physically strenuous work, especially in view of ever larger and heavier parcels.
Many heads, one goal
"A few years ago, delivery staff mainly delivered letters. These were small and light and one delivery person could deliver many letters at once," explains project manager Prof. Rick Voßwinkel from the Faculty of Automotive Engineering. "Today, we often have to deal with large and heavy parcels. This makes the work physically demanding and increases the personnel and cost pressure in the industry enormously."
The project is deliberately interdisciplinary. In addition to automotive engineering, the departments of computer science, logistics, plastics technology and mathematics are also involved. A total of six professors and seven junior scientists are working full-time on LATTICE.
In addition to the development of the autonomous transport station, a digital infrastructure, solutions for route planning and route optimization as well as a viable business model must also be created. The aim is to develop a technically and economically viable solution for the so-called "last mile". Logistics experts use this term to describe the final stage of delivery from the local distribution center to the recipient's front door or immediate neighbourhood.
Live test planned at Zwickau's Kornmarkt
The project will run until the end of October 2028 and is being funded with around one million euros from the European Social Fund Plus and tax revenue from the Free State of Saxony. The plan is to present the developed solution at a public demonstration at Zwickau's Kornmarkt in 2028.
Voßwinkel emphasizes that the project is pursuing long-term goals in addition to technical development. New concepts for urban logistics could reduce emissions and traffic volumes and improve the quality of life in cities.
Further information on the research group can be found here.
