"Jetsons"-style technology is continuing to become reality, and the latest bit of futuristic tech, real-world people will get to sample very soon comes in the form of autonomous delivery robots. A company named Starship will begin using six-wheeled drones to deliver food and other goods in London.
Each six-wheeled robot weighs no more than 40 pounds fully loaded and can deliver about two grocery bags worth of items within a 3-mile radius. The robots move at pedestrian speeds and can detect and maneuver around objects in their path (hopefully better than a Tesla Model S). Once a robot arrives at a residence, the inefficient human
recipient can open the locked robot via phone app to retrieve the goods. The whole journey can be tracked via smartphone, and after making a delivery the robot returns to its base.
The robots rely on much of the same tech that semi-autonomous cars use, albeit in a smaller, slower package, and human operators can take over immediately when the robot runs into something unexpected. That last bit is critical: there will still be human operators ready to take over, presumably not watching 'Harry Potter,' but the 'bots will navigate on their own most of the time.
"The entire delivery platform is both energy- and cost efficient and can be used for a large variety of tasks," Starship says. "In comparison to more traditional delivery services, things such as groceries and packages can be delivered for fraction of the cost. Imagine if you could deliver laundry, wine or even a single packet of light bulbs and still make a profit."
Starship is rolling out its robots in London and three cities in Germany, with robots making deliveries for local retailers and food delivery companies. After a few more test markets in Europe, the robots will make their way to the U.S.
The prospect of wheeled robots delivering a pizza seems a little more grounded (and more high-voltage-powerline-friendly) than Amazon's quad-copter drone idea from a couple of years ago, but as of now the concept feels most at home in the tranquil community shown in the video above. Still, this is a thing that is actually happening in a real place with real people, which is a big step forward for the robot community. We can already picture these with pizza chain logos mingling with other small droids and autonomous cars in traffic before getting their own racing series on ESPN.
Source:JAY RAMEY - Jay Ramey is an Associate Editor with Autoweek, and has been with the magazine since 2013. Jay also likes to kayak and bike. Autoweek.com
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