AUGUST 2018 | MANE PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY | 7
For years, robots have been seen as a sci-fi idea from the future that appeared to be a farfetched concept. Even with technological advancements, the more commercial use of drones and advancements in autonomous driving – the idea of small robots that can drive themselves seemed a few years off.
The future might be now, and one company ushering in the change is a California based tech company called Starship Technologies. The company have been around since July 2014 and have offices around the US and Europe.
Recently, they have started to make their robots more available for commercial purposes, specifically food delivery. These original tests have been a success and they are being tested in new towns and cities in all sorts of conditions. They can brave the rain and storms and hot and sunny weather. They can navigates pavements, climb up and down off and on to raised kerbs and more.
A couple of years ago, a startup named Marathon Robotics worked exclusively with Domino’s Pizza in Australia to produce robot delivery around the Brisbane area. This will have no doubt encouraged the others in the industry to move quicker in order to be the ones who mark their stamp on the industry.
Chinese giants AliBaba have been developing their own delivery drones and recently showed off their Cainiao G Plus delivery robot.
Whilst it doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing as the Starship Technologies robots with its bright yellow front and boxy design – it looks to be behind Starship also in its technological capabilities.
China is a massive investment country in AI, and hopes to become a world leader in the industry by 2030, meaning the technologies in this industry, its availability and affordability for implementation could change a lot within the next 12 years.
MORE THAN MEALS
ON WHEELS....
Self-driving robots have recently come into commercial use and these little
machines could be the start of a growing industry trend.