Robot delivery

Uber Eats, Cartken bring robot delivery to Miami

Is the U.S. finally ready for the next phase of last-mile delivery?

According to a new survey from software firm Circuit, 9 in 10 Americans have decided they’re ready to trust autonomous delivery robots, a far cry from 2018, when just 57% of Americans even knew they existed.

Per the same report, Uber (NYSE: UBER) platform Uber Eats was ranked among the three most trusted companies when it comes to autonomous food delivery. And this week, it launched its third such service since the spring.

On...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-eats-cartken-bring-robot-delivery-to-miami

Amazon scraps Scout home delivery robot

Amazon Scout robot delivery

The world’s largest marketplace continues to axe its more experimental programs amid slowing sales growth.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced this week that it halted testing of its Scout home delivery robot and is offering new positions to 400 people who worked on the project. Amazon began testing Scout in 2019, but customer feedback revealed that it fell short of expectations.

“During our Scout limited field test, we worked to create a unique delivery experience, but learned through feedback that...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-scraps-scout-home-delivery-robot

Walmart wants to combine robot and drone delivery

Walmart store

When you’re the world’s largest retailer, customers expect a premium delivery experience — without paying a premium. But being the biggest seller on the planet also comes with a few perks. 

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has a war chest of institutional funding at its disposal, and its massive scale allows it to spend that money on any number of speculative ventures without undertaking potentially disastrous risk. Already, the company has experimented with solutions like drone delivery, food delivery robots

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-wants-to-combine-robot-and-drone-delivery

Chick-fil-A pilots autonomous robot delivery with Refraction AI

A Chick-fil-A sign

As drone delivery takes flight in the suburbs, a different kind of compact, driverless vehicle is making inroads in cities.

Ground-based robot delivery companies are transforming the urban final mile by using every part of the road to make deliveries. Sidewalks, bike lanes, margins, you name it — autonomous robots from Starship Technologies, Nuro, Kiwibots and others are smart enough to take deliveries anywhere. And they’re being deployed by brands like Safeway, Dominos and merchants using...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/chick-fil-a-pilots-autonomous-robot-delivery-with-refraction-ai

Uber Eats, Motional launch driverless delivery in Santa Monica

Uber Eats app provides autonomous delivery

Food delivery apps found a winner when they added the “leave at door” option to limit customers’ interactions with couriers. But what if your food wasn’t delivered by a human courier at all?

That’s exactly what Uber Eats (NYSE: UBER) and Motional are doing in a new delivery pilot. Launched Monday in Santa Monica, California, the service combines Uber Eats’ delivery platform with Boston-based Motional’s driverless vehicle technology to enable end-to-end food deliveries — no driver necessary.

“At...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-eats-motional-launch-driverless-delivery-in-santa-monica

Serve Robotics achieves autonomous robo-delivery milestone

Serve Robotics completes industry-first Level 4 autonomous commercial delivery

In an industry milestone, Bay Area-based autonomous sidewalk delivery company Serve Robotics announced Thursday that it had completed the first-ever commercial deliveries using autonomous vehicles that require zero human intervention.

Serve revealed that it will be deploying next-generation robots with Level 4 autonomy, meaning the vessels don’t require remote operators to keep an eye on deliveries or step in if needed. Contrast that with competitors in the sidewalk delivery industry like Coco,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/serve-robotics-achieves-autonomous-robo-delivery-milestone

DoorDash has an automation arm: DoorDash Labs

DoorDash adds a new robotics and automation arm, DoorDash Labs

In the wake of supply chain disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and a host of other factors, companies have learned that technology and logistics are now essential to running a business. Larger companies like Amazon and Walmart have set a new precedent, establishing their own technology and logistics arms to keep up with the rapidly changing world of commerce.

Add DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) to that group. The food delivery platform announced on Thursday a project that it’s kept behind...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/doordash-has-an-automation-arm-doordash-labs

Urb-E, Tortoise to partner with AxleHire on zero-emission delivery pilots

Urb-E wants to replace cargo vans with electric bikes pulling collapsible cargo trailers where it makes the most sense: in high-density urban environments.

Already proving the concept can work since its launch in New York City earlier this year, the company on Thursday announced a nationwide pilot with AxleHire.

“We’ve deployed with AxleHire and shown we can do it at scale, and it’s cheaper than gas,” Urb-E co-founder and CEO Charles Jolley told Modern Shipper at this week’s Home Delivery World...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/urb-e-tortoise-to-partner-with-axlehire-on-zero-emission-delivery-pilots

Company behind Walmart’s Pickup Towers is back with autonomous delivery vehicle

The company behind Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) in-store Pickup Towers is back with a new last-mile delivery solution, the Cleveron 701.

The Cleveron 701, by Estonia-based Cleveron, is a flexible autonomous delivery vehicle. The 701 was designed to provide last-mile delivery solutions for retailers and logistics companies. It has been tested for the past six months on the streets of Estonia but has worldwide potential.

Cleveron is a global provider of delivery technologies and solutions, including...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/company-behind-walmarts-pickup-towers-is-back-with-autonomous-delivery-vehicle

Safeway to test robot delivery

Albertsons Companies, owners of the Safeway grocery chain, will test remote-controlled delivery robots from Tortoise. The test of the zero-emission carts will take place at a Safeway store in Northern California.

The cart, which can carry up to 120 pounds of groceries in four lockable containers, will travel at an average speed of 3 mph and be powered by an electric battery. The vehicle’s containers can support ambient temperatures, chilled or frozen. When the cart arrives at a home, the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/safeway-to-test-robot-delivery