Reports about Amazon and Google planning to use drones for delivery are circulating however a not so famous company plans to get ahead of them on the ground. Skype co-founders unveiled Monday a self-driving delivery robot that will be available in United Kingdom and United States next year.
As reported by Mashable, Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis launched Starship Technologies, a company that created self-driving robots to make deliveries to their homes with a speed of 4 mph. A speed that's a little faster than a pedestrian but not as fast as a jogger.
According to Washington Post, the 40 pound robot could make local deliveries in 30 minutes or less. This can be proven useful to neighbourhood restaurants and retailers. Starship Technologies believe that the cost of delivering goods will decrease since the robot is mostly automated and doesn't require human manipulation. This delivery process also eliminates safety concerns that come with drone delivery.
Starship Technologies plans to sell the robots as a service so businesses can either pay the start-up for every delivery or they can buy the platform and pay for the operators and mainternance.
More so, a customer could follow the robot's progress on an app. The customer will be alerted if the delivery has arrived. With the app's help, the cargo bay may be opened since it will be locked to prevent theft. The idea is to make deliveries to customers' homes in 5 to 30 minutes. The robots will be able to carry as heavy as two grocery bags according to the company.
Starship Technologies has designed the robots to be 99 percent self-driving. Under difficult situations, it can be handled by remote human operator, a similar technology designed by Google for aiding its self-driving cars.
Starship Technologies Chief Executive Ahti Heinla said in an interview, "The robots will cross the streets very much like the humans do: stop, look both ways, and wait until it is safe to cross. The robot can recognize approaching cars with its sensor suite from 100-200 meters and will cross the streets only in locations with great visibility."
Starship Technologies maps out areas ahead of time so robots can navigate safely on their own. The prototype is reported to be driven over 80 miles in London, Boston, New York and San Francisco. It is also built with speakers so operators may talk with pedestrians if needed to.
"If somebody bothers the robot the operator can actually shout - 'Hey, what are you doing?' " Heinla told the BBC. "If somebody tries to steal something the operator can actually yell 'The police are coming in five minutes! We know your location, you're being filmed as well.'"
The self-driving delivery robots are said to enter US and UK in 2016. Do you think this technology will work? Share us your thoughts by leaving your comments below. Check out how the Starship robot works in the video below: