I want it now -TTE 2018
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tom Cherrett (Principal Investigator) |
| Title | 'I want it, and I want it now' - what are the transport impacts of your on-line shopping habits? |
| Description | The agent-based model developed in the project was used to illustrate to users the last-mile parcel transport impact of their delivery choices in terms of van activity on streets (users make parcel ordering and delivery choices using a linked tablet). The data visualisation shows deliveries being made by van and on foot, with parcels appearing at delivery addresses. At the end of the simulation, the model shows the van-kilometres driven, porter kilometres walked and the CO2 produced, in terms of the numbers of trees that would have to be planted to offset the impact. A video was also produced to explain the simulation. http://www.ftc2050.com/telling-tales-of-engagement/ As part of the 'Hands on Humanities Day' at the 'Human Worlds Festival' (which took place at the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton on 23 November 2019), the FTC2050 team presented an interactive exhibit "I want it, and I want it now - What are the transport impacts of your on-line shopping habits?" https://www.humanworldsfestival.com/hands-on_humanities_day/ |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The exhibit was very well received and will now be entered as part of the University of Southampton Road Show during the summer of 2020 where it will be exhibited at various festivals. |
| URL | http://www.ftc2050.com/telling-tales-of-engagement/ |
| Title | FTC2050 project animation |
| Description | This is an animation created with Morph which outlines the FTC2050 project and its key findings |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The animation is being displayed on the digital media walls around Southampton University |
| URL | https://player.vimeo.com/video/371595379?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 |
| Title | Using an agent-based model to demonstrate the impacts of last-mile delivery in London |
| Description | The animation was designed and developed with Morph and shows the way agent-based models can be used to visualise and better understand the impacts of last-mile delivery over areas of London. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | Used by the project partners to assist in presentations and teaching |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/374144594 |
| Description | The FTC2050 team was awarded one of three £10,000 EPSRC awards to tell the story of the projects research impact in an interesting and engaging way to a wider audience (Telling Tales of Engagement 2018 Competition - winning grant reference ARCP009769). This interactive exhibit uses an agent-based model to replicate the on-street activity of parcel delivery couriers operating across the EC3 postcode area of London. Players are asked to state i) how many parcel delivery vans they think visit their house, ii) the number of parcels they might expect to receive and, iii) how many deliveries are made by people on foot in a typical week. This is done via a linked tablet. This information is then used to run the model which uses a historical data set of carrier parcel delivery data as a base to replicate and project the delivery characteristics chosen across the EC3 area of London over a single day, if all consignees on the rounds exhibited the same behaviour. The model shows a visualisation of the vans moving around the network with deliveries being made by drivers and foot porters. Locations receiving deliveries have parcels appear at those points with delivery vehicles and porters moving around between them. At the end of the simulation, the model shows the collective impacts of the days delivery activity in terms of the numbers of van-kilometres driven, porter kilometres walked and the CO2 produced by the delivery activity in terms of the numbers of trees that would have to be planted to offset the impact. To aid discussion with players, two pull-up banners were created to accompany the simulation. One frames the current problems with home delivery in the form of a cartoon, particularly the increasing growth of 'same-day' delivery where a consignee can receive a package within a few hours of ordering and the negative transport impacts of such activity. The other shows the ways in which delivery companies are adapting their operations to better manage parcel deliveries using things like foot and cycle couriers, micro-consolidation points and in some cases, drones. A video was also produced to explain the simulation. http://www.ftc2050.com/telling-tales-of-engagement/ As part of the 'Hands on Humanities Day' at the 'Human Worlds Festival' (which took place at the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton on 23 November 2019), the FTC2050 team presented the interactive exhibit for the first time. "I want it, and I want it now - What are the transport impacts of your on-line shopping habits?" https://www.humanworldsfestival.com/hands-on_humanities_day/ The 'I want it, and I want it now' interactive exhibit was due to be toured as part of the University of Southampton Science Roadshow in the summer of 2020 but these events were all cancelled due to Covid. A grant extension was given and it was hoped that it might be possible to attend some festivals in the summer of 2021 but Covid also ruled these out. A virtual version of the exhibit was presented at the University of Southampton Virtual Science Festival on 5/3/21. Building on the original theme of ''I want it, and I want it now', an opportunity arose in the summer of 2022 after the relaxation of lockdown regulations to extend the research to investigate the public's attitudes to future same-day retail delivery via aerial cargo drones. To this end, a virtual reality exhibit involving realistic delivery drones was trialled to give the general public an experience of what drone delivery corridors for retail products might look and sound like in the future. The Covid-19 pandemic had seen several new trials of delivery drones in the UK and other parts of the world to assist health services, and the research being undertaken as part of the EPSRC E-Drone project (EP/V002619/1, https://www.e-drone.org/project-outputs) provided a platform to engage the public in this new type of instant delivery service. The University had a marquee at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show over the full three days (26/7/22 - 28/7/22). 'How will Delivery Drones Look and Sound? Drone Virtual-Reality experience' used virtual reality headsets to give the general public an idea of what delivery drones operating on virtual highways over the New Forest Show Ground might look and sound like in the future. The exhibit allowed the public to look at the world around them in real-time whilst experiencing the sensation of drone flight paths overhead. The computer-animated drone models used were accurately reproduced from original sources using CAD drawings with the audio taken from actual flight recordings. The virtual environments try to realistically recreate some of the places people might expect to see drones flying overhead. The drones were based on the Mugin V50 vertical-take-off-and-landing platform, operated by Skylfit and being trialled by Apian to provide logistical support to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, and the Titan rotary wing drone developed by Motion Robotics. Over the three days, 453 members of the public put on a VR headset and tried the experience. Feedback was extremely positive and suggested that such an approach was very useful in getting a perception of what such futuristic systems might be like in reality. Much debate was generated about efficacy of using drones for home delivery of retail products, the noise and intrusion that would be experienced and how consignees would interact with such a delivery service. Members of the public were generally more in favour of drone logistics services specifically focussed on assisting the NHS with emergency medical deliveries. |
| Exploitation Route | The Human Worlds Festival was a first trial for the agent based model simulation. It performed very well and after some modifications to the software was going be part of the University of Southampton Road Show which was to tour a series of festivals over the summer of 2020 but were all cancelled due to Covid. The outcomes were subsequently built on as part of the E-Drone project where the concept of 'I want it and I want it now' was extended to delivery drones. The addition of virtual reality to help visualise such new transport modes proved very effective. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Energy,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Retail,Transport |
| URL | http://www.ftc2050.com/telling-tales-of-engagement/ |
| Description | Through the Human Worlds Festival at the University of Southampton's we were able to demonstrate to the public the transport implications (increased CO2 and negative environmental impacts) of increased home delivery activity and what mechanisms they can adopt to mitigate the impacts. Sarah Wise who developed the agent-based model was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 'You and Yours' programme about the impacts of last-mile delivery in a world of increasing home delivery. The 'I want it and I want it now' theme was further extended to cover aerial logistics drones and their potential for making same-day home deliveries. As part of the E-Drone project, the virtual reality drone environments developed were disseminated to the general public at the New Forest County Show in July 2022. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Education,Healthcare,Retail,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | 'I want it, and I want it now' - what are the transport impacts of your on-line shopping habits? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Human Worlds Festival is the University of Southampton's annual celebration of Humanities. It is a free series of events for members of the public, including families, to explore the humanities and beyond. In the past years, most of the events took place at the University's Avenue Campus, which is the home of the Faculty of Humanities, including disciplines such as Archaeology, English, Film, History, Modern Languages, Music and Philosophy. For the first time, this year's festival took place at the Southampton Cultural Quarter and was organised by the University of Southampton Public Engagement with Research Unit in partnership with John Hansard Gallery and City Eye. What is our exhibit? 'I want it, and I want it now' - what are the transport impacts of your on-line shopping habits? This interactive exhibit uses an agent-based model to replicate the on-street activity of parcel delivery couriers operating across the EC3 postcode area of London. Players are asked to state i) how many parcel delivery vans they think visit their house, ii) the number of parcels they might expect to receive and, iii) how many deliveries are made by people on foot in a typical week. This is done via a linked tablet. This information is then used to run the model which uses a historical data set of carrier parcel delivery data as a base to replicate and project the delivery characteristics chosen across the EC3 area of London over a single day, if all consignees on the rounds exhibited the same behaviour. The model shows a visualisation of the vans moving around the network with deliveries being made by drivers and foot porters. Locations receiving deliveries have parcels appear at those points with delivery vehicles and porters moving around between them. At the end of the simulation, the model shows the collective impacts of the days delivery activity in terms of the numbers of van-kilometres driven, porter kilometres walked and the CO2 produced by the delivery activity in terms of the numbers of trees that would have to be planted to offset the impact. To aid discussion with players, two pull-up banners were created to accompany the simulation. One frames the current problems with home delivery in the form of a cartoon, particularly the increasing growth of 'same-day' delivery where a consignee can receive a package within a few hours of ordering and the negative transport impacts of such activity. The other shows the ways in which delivery companies are adapting their operations to better manage parcel deliveries using things like foot and cycle couriers, micro-consolidation points and in some cases, drones. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.humanworldsfestival.com/hands-on_humanities_day/ |
| Description | How will Delivery Drones Look and Sound? Drone Virtual-Reality experience - Interactive exhibit at the New Forest Show |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The University had a marquee at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show over the full three days, being the first Road Show event held since 2019 due to the pandemic. How will Delivery Drones Look and Sound? Drone Virtual-Reality experience - Used virtual reality headsets to give the general public an idea of what delivery drones operating on virtual highways over the New Forest Show Ground might look and sound like in the future. Using virtual reality headsets, our exhibit allows you to look at the world around you in real time whilst experiencing the sensation of drone flight paths overhead. The computer-animated drone models used are accurately reproduced from original sources using CAD drawings with the audio taken from actual flight recordings. The virtual environments try to realistically recreate some of the places people might expect to see drones flying overhead. The drones were based on the Mugin V50 vertical-take-off-and-landing drone, operated by Skylfit and being trialled by Apian to provide logistical support to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, and the Titan rotary wing drone developed by Motion Robotics. Over the three days, 453 members of the public put on a VR headset and tried the experience. Feedback was extremely positive and suggested that such an approach was very useful in getting a perception of what such futuristic systems might be like in reality. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.e-drone.org/project-outputs |