Robo delivery

Postmates, a food and grocery delivery company that operates across various US cities, has announced an autonomous delivery robot named Serve that can handle a dozen deliveries per day.

This small robot, which can carry 50 pounds of cargo and has a range of 30 miles, is expected to deliver the orders more quickly by avoiding traffic by travelling on the sidewalk. Serve uses Velodyne LIDAR sensors and Nvidia Xavier processor to navigate and avoid obstacles as it makes deliveries to people’s homes.

It can also make visual cues to help it weave between pedestrians on the sidewalk and vehicles as it crosses roads. A light ring on its top acts as a set of turn signals, while a pair of eyes on its front aims to give more subtle hints to passersby about which direction the robot might be heading in next.

If things go wrong, a small touch screen on the top of the robot can be used to make a video call for assistance. Postmates will initially launch the Serve in Los Angeles before it expands to other states as well.