Just Eat UK has launched an innovative trial involving four-legged delivery robots, partnering with ten independent restaurants in Milton Keynes and Bristol. This program seeks to improve food delivery efficiency while tackling the urban logistical hurdles that plague many established delivery models.
The most recent trial in Milton Keynes included many beloved local restaurants. Savor flavorful fare from 12th Street Burgers & Shakes and Moores Fish & Chips! Eight restaurants in Bristol are participating in the pilot program. Some of them have wonderful names like Jolly Fryer, Chicken Mews and Bishopston Fish Bar. The partnership aims to evaluate the performance of these self-driving delivery robots on their ability to traverse complicated urban landscapes.
The robots, created by Robot Interactive Virtual Reality, Inc., are meant to be jump over “difficult urban challenges,” such as staircases. Each robot features omni-wheels on their feet that let them maneuver on outdoor terrain like grass or gravel just as easily as smooth linoleum floors. An orange box on each of the robots back doubles as a storage compartment for transporting food orders.
Marko Bjelonic, chief executive of RIVR, said this partnership marks an important step in the firm’s development. He stated, “The launch in Milton Keynes reflects a shared focus on practical, automated delivery that integrates seamlessly into existing operations.” He further described the initiative as “an important step in scaling autonomous delivery across European cities.”
Through this pilot period, human operators will accompany the robots outside of the restaurants. They will staff the vaccine pods, supervise operations, coordinate all deliveries and walkthroughs. The testing phase comes on the heels of a similar pilot in Switzerland, where almost 1,000 autonomous deliveries were successfully executed.
Alongside the trials in the UK, they are experimenting with delivery drones in Ireland as well. This example continues a recent pattern, deploying automation as a solution in the food delivery sector. At the same time, cities are hungry for solutions that achieve their goals of better delivery times and reduced congestion. From autonomous vehicles to drones, these technological advancements have the potential to truly transform urban logistics.