Uber Eats and AI-powered robotics company, Cartken have expanded their automated food delivery service in the U.S.
In a statement the companies said their roadside self-driving delivery robots have started operating with select merchants at a popular shopping and dining district in Virginia. It follows an initial pilot of autonomous deliveries which was introduced to Miami in December last year.
Anjali Jindal Naik, Co-Founder and COO at Cartken said: “Our team at Cartken is excited to further partner with Uber Eats and expand our reach to serve the Fairfax community. Cartken is at an inflection point, where we are rapidly bringing our AI, computer vision, and lidar-less autonomous robots to more places, like Mosaic District, in partnership with Uber Eats.”
As with the pilot, customers will be instructed to meet their delivery robot outside and will be able to unlock their meal using their phone. It marks Uber’s latest venture into robotic delivery, having recenty launched similar services with Serve and Motional bots in Los Angeles and with Nuro vehicles in Houston and Mountain View, California.
“With our shared passion for innovative urban design, sustainability, and technology, we believe that robot delivery with Uber Eats is a great fit for Fairfax consumers looking for a fun and convenient way to grab their next meal,” said Noah Zych, Head of Autonomous Mobility and Delivery at Uber.
Mosaic, is home to more than 4forty restaurants, provides an ideal setting for the delivery programme. The phenomenon of roadside delivery robots, however, has not just been limited to the U.S. In February, Logistics specialist Aramex completed testing of its drone and roadside bot deliveries in Dubai. This came on the back of autonomous drone delivery testing in Muscat, Oman with the company saying at the time that it planned to further expand its drone and robot delivery testing across Africa and the Middle East.
