Forget the drones and meet the new delivery robot. While companies like Google and Amazon create delivery airborne drones, two of the founders of Skype believe deliveries will stay firmly on the ground.
A new company called Starship Technologies is definitely going to disrupt local delivery with an autonomous robot that will deliver groceries to your doorstep in under 30 minutes for less than $1 and then it will text you a message to announce its arrival.
The Starship robot has been developed by Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis. The six-wheel robot drives on pavements at an average speed of 4mph. The Starship is designed to drive for a few miles from a local hub or a shop and can complete local deliveries within 5 to 30 minutes. It can carry only small loads, the equivalent of two grocery bags (20lbs).
Starship will drive autonomously 99 per cent of the time. It will use a combination of cameras, GPS and pre-installed mapping data.
Customers will be able to track the robot’s location through a mobile app in real time. The cargo space will remain locked during the transportation and on arrival only the customer can unlock it using the mobile application. Integrated navigation and obstacle avoidance software will guide the robot while driving autonomously. However, a human operator can assume control at any time.
Starship developers are currently testing prototypes and they are planning to launch the first pilot services in cooperation with their partners in the US and other countries in 2016.
You can see the Starship robot here.
