February 28, 2022 – Following a recent outbreak of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in Shenzhen, China, DeepRoute.ai mobilized two medium-duty trucks with level 4 autonomous driving capabilities to deliver goods and facilities into the control area, supporting local communities and medical staff. This marks the first official deployment of DeepRoute.ai’s trucks in Downtown Shenzhen.

The deployment started on February 24 evening, and the next day one single truck delivered over 500 boxes of items, including approximately 10,000 face shields, 80,000 masks, 30,000 surgical gloves, 3,000 protective garments, 10,000 alcohol disinfectants and others to the Shatou area of the Futian District. DeepRoute.ai will continue to service 12 community stations for at least 14 days, on standby from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

“After being made aware of the resource and manpower shortage in the region, our team immediately executed a plan to transport necessities with our self-driving vehicles, and we were honored to do so,” said Maxwell Zhou, CEO of DeepRoute.ai. “This project demonstrates the value of autonomous driving technology during emergency situations, providing urban deliveries efficiently and tirelessly, and supplementing a shortage of labor.”

 Safety Operators preparing DeepRoute.ai medium-duty truck for deliveries

During a similar outbreak in June 2021, DeepRoute.ai Robotaxis, or DeepRoute-INJOY, transported around 30,000 person’s COVID-19 test samples per day to local hospitals, allowing for quick results with little human interaction required. DeepRoute.ai launched DeepRoute-LINK, the medium-duty truck business line, several months later in September.

Retrofitted with LiDar sensors, cameras, millimeter wave radar, GNSS and other sensors, DeepRoute.ai’s medium-duty trucks maneuver safely and efficiently on complicated urban roads, demonstrating the strength of the proprietary early fusion algorithm, inference engine, and excellent planning and control algorithms. DeepRoute.ai expects to utilize the trucks for several projects this year, beginning with commercialization for urban logistics in China.