LAZY PEOPLE LOVER and food delivery service Just Eat is to test self-driving robots that will ferry food to Londoners too idle to explore the capital’s culinary delights.
Advertisement
A Starship Technologies robot delivering food to a woman in a park.
This operator can even take control of the robot remotely to help it cross a road or manoeuvre around an obstacle on the pavement.
This comes as online retailer Amazon continues to invest in and test airborne drones for delivery in the UK.
“By launching partnerships with major companies we will enter the next phase in our development”, said Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies. The trial is expected to kick off within the next few months, and a few details of how the order and delivery process will work has been revealed. When the vehicle arrives at its destination, customers are able to access the cargo using a code sent to them through the app.
“With scalable innovation at the core of their business, they are the flawless partner for us at Just Eat as we continuously look for sustainable ways to use technology to make our customers’ and restaurant partners lives easier”. “Starship is at the forefront of innovation in the delivery sector so it’s a natural fit for us to be partnering with them to bring delivery robots to our high streets”.
The partnerships follow a series of trials of Starship Technologies’ robots in Europe and the USA, during which time they covered close to 5,000 miles without any accidents.
The restaurants taking part in the trial will be announced in due course.
Advertisement
“We can’t wait to launch this test programme in London and roll it out in time across other cities as we expand our reach both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The robot has been very well-received by pedestrians in all of the interactions we’ve seen so far, so it’s very exciting to be officially introducing the robot to the British public”.
