Crowdsourced delivery technology company Veho has begun testing whether wheeled-legged parcel delivery robots – capable of navigating stairs, porches, gates and uneven terrain – can boost productivity in urban environments.
Veho provides last-mile delivery for retailers like Sephora, Warby Parker, Lululemon, Saks, Stitch Fix, Nespresso and Macy’s, as well as third-party logistics providers Flexport, ShipHero and Stord. On Tuesday, it launched a pilot program in Austin, Texas, with Swiss robotics and AI firm Rivr to deliver e-commerce packages from a vehicle to customers’ doorsteps using robots.
Rivr says its goal is to place 1 million delivery robots in cities. The Zurich-based company changed its name from Swiss-Mile in January to reflect its transformation from a university high-tech spinoff after raising $22 million in seed funding led by Amazon Executive Chair Jeff Bezos, through Bezos Expeditions, and HongShang Group. The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund also participated in the funding round.
The initial pilot in Austin will involve one robot completing daily parcel deliveries over a two-week period, Veho said in an email response. “It’s a deliberately small-scale launch designed to gather operational insights, optimize integration with Veho’s platform, and inform a potential fleet expansion in Austin and beyond,” the company said.
Most autonomous delivery robots tried so far tend to be small containers on wheels used in food delivery applications, usually limited to curbside applications and with low throughput. Veho and Rivr say their smart machine is more capable, making multidrop delivery commercially viable.
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