Swiss robotics start-up Rivr is launching its first dog-like robots through two experimental programs in the UK and the US, working with local parcel delivery platforms. The aim is to optimize last-mile delivery.
These robots are specially designed to navigate a variety of urban environments. For example, they are able to go up and down stairs, as well as over uneven terrain. Unlike other solutions which tend to operate on the sidewalk, these robots can theoretically deliver packages right to the customer's door, working in tandem with a human agent.
The first two programs, in Barnsley, England, and Austin, USA, aim to test the integration of this type of robot into delivery operations, in order to meet the growing challenges of e-commerce. The idea is to be able to collect enough data to put a hundred of them into circulation by next year.
The robot, named Rivr One, is fully autonomous, with a hybrid architecture combining wheels and legs, enabling it to navigate efficiently in a wide variety of environments – all the way to the customer's door. Equipped with a clever combination of sensors (cameras, LiDAR) and powered by artificial intelligence, it has been trained in a multitude of situations, enabling it to adapt in real time to its environment. Today, it can carry loads of up to 30kg and operate day and night.
In addition to parcel delivery, this wheel-legged robot could one day deliver meals, or provide logistical support for companies, facilitating the transport of important documents or equipment.
Usually, delivery robots take the more conventional form of small, enclosed rolling carts, dropping off foodstuffs or small goods at customers' doors. In the US alone, robot deliveries have been on the increase for several years now, particularly at American universities. Outside the US, this service is also beginning to develop in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and Estonia. – AFP Relaxnews
