The American logistics company Postmates announced its intention to use robots to deliver goods.
Autonomous systems for the delivery of goods have already ceased to be part of science fiction and are gradually becoming commonplace. So, we have already written about experiments in this direction, which are put by such companies as Kroger и Domino's Pizza. Uber Eats, Amazon and Google are also actively working in this direction. Now it has become known that the company Postmates, specializing in courier delivery, is also joining this “race”.
For now, Postmates will be limited to the streets of Los Angeles, which will now be driven around by small autonomous devices called Serve. These robots are smart enough to navigate complex urban environments while avoiding obstacles without inconveniencing pedestrians. In particular, they are equipped with lidars from Ouster, a company that specializes in autonomous driving solutions. The new delivery system will work in test mode for now.
Postmates is still quite young, it has existed since 2011. Nevertheless, despite its young age, it has already managed to open offices in almost 3,000 cities throughout the United States. The service quickly gained popularity due to its exceptional convenience. The user simply places an order through the mobile application, Postmates takes care of all delivery issues. Just a few years after the start of the company, the number of orders carried out by it exceeded 7,000 per day. Also since 2017, Postmates entered the Mexican market, starting to provide delivery services in Mexico City.