Postmates And DoorDash Are Ready To Beta Test Robot Deliveries
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Starship Technologies trial to begin in early in February.
For customers in Redwood City, California and Washington, D.C., soon their deliveries may be coming via robot. If successful, the pilot could bring new flexibility to merchants and retailers across the nation. According to CNN, DoorDash and Postmates each will begin testing the use of ground robots for deliveries under one mile in early February. The top speeds of the robot approximately equal that of a pedestrian making them unsuitable for extended delivery trips.
As Quartz explained, when a delivery order comes in, the restaurant will assign it to a robot, which heads to the restaurant to pick up the order. The restaurant receives a text notification when it is outside, and the appropriate order can be loaded into the carrying compartment before the bot heads to its delivery destination. The bots are unable to do stairs, so customers also receive a text when it arrives as the address, asking the customer to come outside to get the food. Bots can make daytime and some limited nighttime trips.
The robots are the product of Starship Technologies, and in the initial pilot they will have a human following them on their rounds to ensure that there are no difficulties with the delivery. While Starship Technologies has engaged in extensive testing of the service in Europe, the DoorDash and Postmates programs are the first in the U.S.
"It's been almost like a dream from the robot's perspective," said Starship Technologies COO Allan Martinson, of operating on wide, uncrowded American sidewalks. It's much harder for the robot to handle, for example, London's sidewalks.
"If you happen to live within 500 feet of a restaurant and you order a $5 beverage, I think the likelihood of you getting assigned a robot will go up," co-founder Stanley Tang told CNN regarding the pilot in D.C.. There's no way to guarantee one will receive a robot delivery.
The pilot will gauge feasibility of robotic deliveries for the future, including measuring associated costs versus traditional methods, and no extra charges will be imposed for the robot deliveries. Postmates, in particular, is positive about the trial, and says that if it goes well, it will expand the use of robots to more areas. Postmates makes some 1.5 million deliveries per month.
As Amazon moves forward with its drone delivery plans, perhaps robotic deliveries could become a formidable competitor for retailers and merchants who are hoping to win over tech-savvy customers.