The Fantastical Future of Home Delivery – A blog by Jo
We are not quite living in a futuristic sci-fi movie, but we’re not that far from it. Planes trains and automobiles may soon be a thing of the past, with innovative delivery companies offering new and seemingly futuristic solutions including robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles.
Over the last few years residents of California may have seen Amazon Prime robots on the streets delivering parcels. Amazon has been testing ‘Scout’ (pictured below) for many years and has introduced it to Seattle, California, Georgia, and Tennessee. “Amazon said the battery-powered robots were part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its delivery operations.” (Soper & Day, 2022) But according to Bloomberg, due to slow growth, the project has been halted. So, it seems we may have to wait a bit longer for the Scout robot to knock on our doors.
Walmart is now operating a drone delivery service from 36 of its hubs. “Not every Walmart store is equipped to make drone deliveries, but the company said it has 4,700 of them located within 90% of the U.S. population. In a way, the firm has a network of built-in fulfilment centres, any of which could be transformed into a drone hangar. Another key statistic is that more than 85% of items sold at Walmart Neighbourhood Markets fit the size and weight requirements for drone delivery. In total, the retailer and its partners are able to offer up to 20,000 items, making it an ideal candidate for such a service.” (Daleo, 2023)
Uber Eats has recently signed a 10-year deal with Nuro, an autonomous driving start-up. “Nuro’s second generation R2 vehicle is not your typical delivery robot designed only for sidewalk travel. It’s much larger, about half as wide as a compact sedan, but shorter than most cars. And there’s no room inside for human passengers or drivers, making it fully driverless in the truest sense.” (Hawkins, 2022) Nuro is one of only a few driverless vehicles on public roads, but the licence only permits its use in Santa Clara and San Mateo. The advantage of autonomous delivery vehicles is that delivery times can be dramatically shortened and they can deliver all day without having to adhere to driver regulations.
A little closer to home, Leeds City Council has partnered with Co-op and Starship Technologies to offer a delivery service to 20,000 residents. “According to the firm, the robots are a more “sustainable and affordable way to get groceries delivered to your door”, with an average delivery for a robot consuming as little energy as boiling a kettle to make just one cup of tea.” (BBC, 2022) and according to Starship Technology’s website they have already completed 4 million autonomous deliveries.
So how do you feel about this technology delivering your orders?
References
BBC. (2022, November 30). Robot Grocery Delivery Service launches in Leeds. BBC News. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-63809836
Daleo, J. (2023) Breaking down walmart’s 2022 in drone delivery, FreightWaves. Available at: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/breaking-down-walmarts-2022-in-drone-delivery (Accessed: January 26, 2023).
Hawkins, A. J. (2022, September 8). Uber eats and nuro sign a 10-year deal to do robot food delivery in California and Texas. The Verge. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/8/23339830/uber-eats-nuro-robot-delivery-ten-year-deal-california-texas
Soper, S., & Day, M. (2022, October 6). Amazon abandons autonomous home-delivery robot scout in latest cut (AMZN). Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-06/amazon-abandons-autonomous-home-delivery-robot-in-latest-cut
