It may sound like an April Fool’s stunt but it’s August. Evri has launched a four-legged robotic dog that will work in partnership with a courier to deliver parcels during a two-week trial in Morley in North Leeds. It’s part of a wider trial of autonomous deliveries for the firm which will begin next month.
Evri says the four-legged robot dog will be able to hop in and out of the courier’s van delivering to homes and saving the legs of the courier. Parcels will be loaded by the courier and gently placed from the dog’s ‘mouth’ at the delivery destination.
The robot is powered by General Physical AI and equipped with cameras, LiDAR, and advanced perception systems. Its design means it should navigate safely around anything in its path, such as pedestrians, cyclists or wheelie bins and will stop immediately in an emergency. It’s not clear whether it will tackle other dogs – often the bane of a courier’s life when entering a gated property.
Developed by RIVR, a Swiss global innovation leader in physical AI, the partnership with Evri aims to gain insight into how the robot dogs can work with couriers to improve efficiency support with some of the more strenuous parts of the job.
Evri says the dog has gone through a rigorous training schedule with algorithms and game-like training worlds that closely mimic reality to enable the dog to master mobility, manipulation and autonomy tasks.
The future of delivery?
In a report celebrating fifty years of deliveries last year Evri surveyed consumers about the future of delivery. At that point only 16% of respondents thought that robots would eventually be delivering their parcels.
Marcus Hunter, chief technology officer at Evri, said: “Couriers always have and always will be the heart of our business. Robots will never replace them, but we are dedicated to finding new and innovative methods to support our couriers and increase the speed and convenience of the services we offer.”
“In this next stage of innovation, we are thrilled to introduce Milo the robotic delivery dog and we’re excited to see the trial get underway and see what we learn. We hope innovative ideas like this will complement our service offering and provide increased flexibility and choice for consumers.”
Next month a longer trial of a small and light EV robot, developed by Delivers AI, will be trialled in Barnsley by Evri. Residents who want to opt in to have all their parcels delivered by these robots for the three-month trial will be able to sign up for the trial via a dedicated website.
The EV robots can be deployed 24 hours a day, allowing for nighttime deliveries or on-demand services with designated time slots or to support customers who need more time to get to the door.
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