The 100% autonomous driving -although still in an initial stage- continues adding small big milestones. The Madrid municipality of Alcobendas has been chosen to test for the first time in Spain the first autonomous and electric robots for home delivery, in collaboration with companies such as Dia and Telepizza. In the case of the first, five of these androids of different sizes are already available, ready for use in the distribution, although yes: supervised by six people from the logistics center.
It is a four-wheeled robot, at first glance small in size but with a large tank and capable of crossing the different traffic lights by himself. It has a system that is activated when the customer directly communicates his order through the web or the application of these companies. And without assuming an additional cost for the client. Later, he receives the notice that the robot will be in charge of the distribution of his purchase.
Workers load the robot’s depot, the destination coordinates are entered, and the robot sets course for it using mapping technology. Being able to overcome small obstacles on its way such as potholes or avoiding pedestrians and reaching 5 kilometers per hour. Of course, despite its autonomous driving, it is at all times supervised by people so that nothing fails on its way or in its mission.
It works with batteries that range from 5 to 12 hours, depending on the robot. If these run out, the android returns to the logistics center where it is replaced with a freshly charged battery.
This pioneering robot weighs between 60 and 100 kilos -so that it cannot be lifted by people outside the company and stolen-. In addition, it is controlled by geolocation via satellite and, upon arrival, the customer can easily open the compartment where the purchase is, being the one who uploads it to his home.
“The investment in these services is very high”, declared Eduardo Uriarte, vice president of technology at Goggo Network, the company behind these robots. A project that has had the financial and logistical support of the Alcobendas City Council.
Goggo, the company behind these robots
Goggo was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky and former McKinsey partner Yasmine Fage with the goal of leading the driverless revolution and solving the transportation challenges of the future. As highlighted in their blog, “our vision is to provide all people with autonomous, electric and shared mobility solutions through the creation of Autonomous Mobility Networks. To achieve this vision, our team has raised more than €44 million in venture capital funds so far from Softbank and Axel Springer Ventures”.
Currently, innovations such as electric vehicles, autonomous driving technology, 5G connectivity, IoT intercommunication or cloud computing are currently allowing the evolution of mobility. However, there is still a long way to go before these ‘robots on wheels’ become part of the urban landscape. Since it is necessary to “develop specific measures and regulations in order to organize the industry and prepare for the deployment of autonomous driving services that will behave as networks (as well as) draw the general lines of a European regulation through a system of licenses”, they comment.
