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Starship launches robot package delivery service in the UK
The dream of having a robot deliver packages to your home is now real, provided you live in the right part of the UK. Starship Technologies has launched a ground-based robot package service (the first in the world, according to the company) in Milton Keynes. You have to tell companies to ship to a Starship facility instead of your usual destination, but after that it's just a matter of using a mobile app to schedule a robotic delivery at a convenient time. You can track the bot in the app if you're anxiously awaiting an order.
Estonia is first in the EU to let cute delivery bots on sidewalks
Starship Technologies' delivery bots have been dropping off lunches in Europe and the US with increasing regularity, and governments are slowly warming to the idea. State legislatures in Virginia and Idaho recently granted official permission for small delivery robots to operate on sidewalks, and now Estonia(!) has offered its approval as well. The measure passed 86 to 0 in the country's parliament yesterday, making Estonia the first country in the EU to officially bless these adorable, food-slinging robots.
Virginia is the first state to legalize delivery robots
America is now one step closer to becoming a sci-fi utopia, thanks to a new law passed in Virginia. On Friday the state's governor signed a ruling which will allow delivery robots to use its sidewalks and crosswalks from July 1st. Advised by Starship Technologies (an Estoninan robotics company that specializes in ground delivery) the legislation states that the bots cannot travel faster than ten miles per hour, or weigh over 50 pounds.
The Future IRL: Deliveries via robot
Your online delivery habit is facing a growing problem: the rising number of packages needing delivery, combined with a projected deficit in truck drivers (PDF). But that's the issue a company like Starship Technologies is trying to solve. It just started testing a delivery robot in US cities (though the company has been overseas for a few years, already) and is hoping both its design and cost win over any skeptics worried about a robot that knows where they live and what kind of food they like. Don't miss the next episode of Future IRL on March 7th, when we'll be looking at the future of virtual reality.
DoorDash and Postmates test deliveries with robots
Starship's autonomous delivery robots have found work outside of the US, but they're now ready to come Stateside. DoorDash and Postmates have forged partnerships that will have them respectively test Starship robots in Redwood City, California and Washington, DC. As elsewhere, they'll carry food orders and packages with only the most basic of human oversight -- someone will watch over them in case they run into trouble, but they can largely roll along city sidewalks on their own.
Just Eat starts delivering takeaways by autonomous robot
Just Eat has today laid claim to delivering the first takeaway meal by autonomous robot. The online ordering company has been working with Starship Technologies since July, testing the latter's "last-mile" delivery robots in Greenwich, London. But these tamperproof, pavement-pounding boxes on wheels are now in active service in the area, after the first, apparently unknowing customer successfully received their falafel and lamb cutlets from a local Turkish eatery. While customers are not be able to actively choose robot as their preferred delivery option yet, Just Eat says Greenwich "will increasingly be serviced by the technology," ahead of plans to expand the rollout (no pun intended) to more parts of London next year.
ICYMI: Delivery drone inception and China's 'Spruce Goose'
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Starship Technologies teams up with Mercedes-Benz to use the latter's Sprinter vans as "motherships" for the former's package delivery drones. China announced that it will buy the only existing Antonov An-225 airplane -- the largest and heaviest aircraft to ever fly -- and will finish construction on a second before using both to deliver construction equipment and aid in humanitarian relief efforts.
ICYMI: Floating wind farm, autonomous robot delivery & more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Delivery company Starship Technologies will begin testing sidewalk-scooting autonomous delivery robots next year in London and the U.S. They can go up to 4 miles-per-hour and carry about 20 pounds worth of whatever it is you've ordered. Scotland's coast will be home to Europe's largest offshore wind farm. And Georgia Tech researchers are studying fire ants to try to engineer self-healing materials.
