Strolley is a sharing service for intelligent load transportation. In contrast to existing sharing vehicles, Strolley enables transport on foot. The concept was developed by Ferdinand Neukrich and me in a course called “Future Urban Mobility”. It was a cooperation between Weißensee Art Academy, Potsdam University of Applied Sciences and BMW Group Design.
Strolley is a rentable cargo robot with a non-slip loading surface. It is activated via the user’s smartphone and follows the user independently at walking speed. First, the cargo is scanned by the smartphone camera. An AI recognizes the features and interprets the object. The service app knows how many strolleys are needed for the size of the object. It provides instructions for effortless loading and strapping of the load. By entering the destination, the app shows low-barrier routes. Optionally, public transport is integrated into the route recommendation.
With its size of 120 × 80 × 50 cm, Strolley fits in elevators, buses and trains. The electrically driven wheels allow rotation around its own axis. The airless tires with hub motor and flexible spokes allow overcoming small obstacles. If two cars are digitally coupled to each other, particularly bulky goods can be transported. During the journey, the two units communicate with each other. To enable cornering, the transport surfaces are free-turning. Lasers pointed at the ground signal direction changes to passersby. Strolley can also receive verbal commands via microphone.
Thanks to its swiveling chassis, Strolley can be lowered on one side. This facilitates the loading and unloading of heavy goods. There is a rubberized roller at the rear that prevents the object to be loaded from being scratched. The roller also enables unloading at edges, e.g. at house entrances.
The rental stations are preferably located at urban hubs such as train stations, construction and furniture markets. The Strolleys are stored and loaded underground, leaving more space on the sidewalks and protecting the vehicles from vandalism.
Our concept was presented at BMW Group Design in Munich in front of Design & Friends as well as the ED Kreis – the management circle development and design of the different divisions and brands at BMW.
The project was supervised by professors Nils Krüger (Weißensee School of Art) and Dr. Frank Heidmann (Potsdam University of Applied Sciences).