A last-mile delivery[1] robot named Robby[2], which has been undergoing real-world testing in California, just got a facelift.
Robby 2 has a more robust drivetrain (necessary for the Bay Area's hilly terrain and terrible sidewalks) and a sleek new body that's supposed to give it "a clean and yet warm, inviting look," according to a spokesperson.
Considering an older version of Robby looked like a cooler on hardware store casters, the update is welcome.
With San Francisco residents tossing Bird electric scooters in the bay and hurling rocks at Google buses, it's no surprise Robby Enterprises[3], the company behind the robot, is keen to make its machines as appealing as possible to the public.
The city has heavily restricted[4] use of delivery robots to specific defined corridors, and humans still need to accompany the systems as they undergo real-world trials.
The idea behind Robby and the slew of other urban delivery bots from companies like Starship Technologies[5] and Marble[6] is to take humans and traffic out of last-mile fulfillment.
Delivery robots are expected to make up a significant portion of the global autonomous robot market, which Zion Market Research[7] projects will be worth $12 billion by 2024. In January, Amazon filed a patent for its own last-mile robot, accelerating the development race and bringing increased investor attention to the sector.
Robby 1.0 looked a lot like a wayward cooler.
In addition to technology development and testing, firms in the space have been keen build strategic partnerships with customer-facing companies. Robby Technologies has partnered with Doordash, Instacart, and Postmates, for example, and its test robots have logged over 4,000 miles delivering