Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed a joint development agreement with Coast Autonomous Inc. to speed up the development and launch of robotic solutions across the mobile equipment offering. To emphasise the common long-term interests of the partnership between the companies, Kalmar has become a minority shareholder of Coast Autonomous, according to the company's release.
The joint development agreement and investment in Coast Autonomous follows the introduction of Kalmar Robotic Portfolio - a future range of intelligent, flexible and autonomous mobile equipment solutions designed to improve safety, eco-efficiency and productivity of cargo and material handling in ports and terminals, distribution centers and heavy logistics.
Coast Autonomous is an autonomous driving technology start-up based in California, USA, providing mobility solutions to move people and goods in urban and industrial environments. Coast Autonomous has developed a proprietary autonomous vehicle system that includes mapping and localisation, robotics and artificial intelligence, fleet management and supervision. In the initial phase, the partnership between Kalmar and Coast Autonomous will focus on the autonomous driving functionality of the Kalmar RoboTractor - an autonomous terminal tractor.
Kalmar offers the widest range of cargo handling solutions and services to ports, terminals, distribution centres and to heavy industry. Kalmar is the industry forerunner in terminal automation and in energy efficient container handling, with one in four container movements around the globe being handled by a Kalmar solution. Through its extensive product portfolio, global service network and ability to enable a seamless integration of different terminal processes, Kalmar improves the efficiency of every move.
Kalmar is part of Cargotec. Cargotec's sales in 2020 totalled approximately EUR 3.3 billion and it employs around 11,000 people.