Amazon Unveils Scout Delivery Robot

The world’s biggest e-commerce company – Amazon, unveils its Scout delivery robots which are currently being tested in a neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington. Amazon Scout provides a delivery solution within a small neighborhood or community. It is the latest entry to the market for autonomous delivery to be used for delivering food or other goods to customers without a human driver.

During the trial period, six Amazon Scout delivery vehicles will be tasked to deliver packages in daylight hours Mondays through Fridays. For each Scout, there will be a designated Amazon employee that will oversee to the whole delivery process. This will ensure safety and efficiency of these delivery robots, especially when navigating pedestrians, pets, and others that may block their way. The automated delivery robots are equipped with six small wheels, moves at a walking pace, and powered by an electric battery.   

Before Amazon started these autonomous delivery robots, there were startup companies as well as larger firms who already experimented on this type of technology. Starship Technologies first introduced the small self-driving robotic delivery vehicles in 2016. The delivery robots moved on sidewalks at pedestrian speed and designed for short-range local delivery only. Each robot is equipped with a sensor suite for efficient navigation. It includes cameras, GPS and inertial measurement unit. Domino’s Pizza is one of the first companies who partnered with Starship Technologies for their food delivery service.

To date, there are similar trials that are being implemented around the world, most of which are can be found in closed-off sites like school campuses and industrial complexes. The availability of inexpensive sensors and the advancement in machine learning have made this new technology easy to manage. In the event that the robot fails to function as expected, the risk is still smaller as compared to self-driving cars. The Amazon Scout is a very promising device that all of us can look forward to.