Rolling Drone Delivery Robots Have Arrived (starship.xyz)

Starship Technologies has begun testing their on-demand delivery robots in cities around the world -- including Washington, D.C. -- to manage the "last mile" for small deliveries. Slashdot reader Okian Warrior quotes the Starship Technologies site: Capable of carrying the equivalent of two grocery bags, the robots can complete local deliveries within 5-30 minutes from a local hub or retail outlet, for 10-15 times less than the cost of current last-mile delivery alternatives. Customers can choose from a selection of short, precise delivery slots -- meaning goods arrive at a time that suits them. During delivery, shoppers can track the robot's location in real time through a mobile app, and on arrival only the app holder is able to unlock the cargo.
Created by two Skype co-founders, the company uses ground-based delivery drones equipped with nine cameras, two-way audio capability, and GPS, according to ABC News, which has video of the robots in action. "When confronted with any kind of issue or trouble, a human at Starship can take over. The remote operator can have a two-way conversation with those around the robot... They hope to make the robots available for 24/7 delivery and for only a $1 fee." What could go wrong?

Comments

Avoid the City of Brotherly Love

[tomhath]

Or it might face the same fate as Hitchbot

Re:We have been doing this in San Rafael since 201

[unrtst]

Those kinda illustrate the limitations this thing will have.

AFAICT, the market for these is pretty damn small.
* Many areas lack sidewalks. Even well built up and affluent areas just outside of major downtown cities.
* Many areas with sidewalks also have significant pedestrian traffic. This thing is NOT as agile nor small as another person. In a busy downtown area, this won't be accepted.
* This leaves low traffic areas with sidewalks, but only within 1-3 miles of the base station, and you've gotta have a manual override operator standing by.

For those ideal conditions, just stick a kid on a bicycle.

Rolling drones

[Hognoxious]

Do they have a special coating to repel lichens and similar things?

Re:Rolling drones

[dead_user]

Naw, a rolling drone gathers no moss.

Re:Laws allowing their use, have not

[Hognoxious]

I see a market for maybe five of these.

Should work well ... until

[Kohath]

This should work well in some select neighborhoods, in good weather, during the day. Then the company will get sued for discriminating against people in poor neighborhoods. Then they'll start offering the service in poor neighborhoods. Then the deliveries will get stolen and/or the robots wrecked. Then the company will have to double the delivery fee on everyone to make up for the extra costs.

Meanwhile, regular deliveries during the day also work fine. Unlike the robots, regular delivery guys just drop off the goods when their route takes them past your house. They don't need to schedule a time to meet with you. Regular delivery guys know how to not get robbed. They can deliver a when it's raining or snowing. They can carry more than 2 grocery bags. And delivery isn't super expensive now, even though it includes the wages of the delivery guy.

It will be interesting to see what happens with these. I expect a mix, with robots delivering to rich neighborhoods in California and delivery guys delivering anywhere with weather or crime or where you can hire a trustworthy delivery guy for an affordable wage.

Scalability?

[ThosLives]

One thing I don't get about small drone delivery: even with a capacity of "two bags of groceries" that means for N packages you are going to need N or N/2 trips for each drone. This is opposed to, what, N/100 trips for traditional delivery services?

Does anyone working in the logistics industry have any comment on how this can possibly be more efficient than traditional delivery in any way? Maybe there is something subtle and I (and many others) just can't see it...