Tom Assmann

Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

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About

Tom Assmann is a leading researcher at the intersection of urban logistics, autonomous systems, and smart city infrastructure. His work focuses on the operational feasibility and real-world deployment of automated micro-vehicles—particularly autonomous delivery robots (ADRs)—as a transformative solution for last-mile urban logistics. Assmann’s major contribution lies in shifting the discourse from passenger autonomous vehicles to smaller, more immediately viable robotic systems for goods transport. His seminal 2019 paper, "State of the art - Automated micro-vehicles for urban logistics" (43 citations), established a foundational framework for this emerging field. He further advanced the discipline with his 2022 study, "Ready for robots? Assessment of autonomous delivery robot operative accessibility in German cities" (25 citations), which pioneered a methodology for evaluating ADR feasibility across diverse urban environments—considering infrastructure, regulation, and robot design variations. Assmann also explored the use of OpenStreetMap data for outdoor robotic navigation (2019, 6 citations), contributing to practical localization solutions. His work is essential reading for researchers and students interested in sustainable urban mobility, logistics automation, and the regulatory challenges of deploying autonomous systems in public spaces.