Each Robotmart vehicle has 10 lockers, each with a capacity to carry 22Kg (50 pounds) from a local retailer to a customer for a flat fee of $3. The vehicles are Level 4 self-driving. That same level of self-driving has now allowed self-driving trucks to master highway driving. We've already got ports that are almost 100% automated – Europe's largest port, Rotterdam, being a prime example.
Almost all the functional pieces of a 100%-robot global logistics chain are here and working; every step from the factory of origin to the end customer. The last few areas where humans need to load/unload, or pack/unpack, will soon be mastered by robots, too.
Robomart unveils new delivery robot with $3 flat fee to challenge DoorDash, Uber Eats
A $3 flat-free self-driving delivery robot in Texas shows how close we are to a 100%-robot global logistics chain.
byu/lughnasadh inFuturology
17 Comments
Trains, trucks and ships are operated by people. Main thesis of this post is absolutely detached from reality. The fact that each step is automated SOMEWHERE in the world does not translate into there being a completely automated global supply chain anywhere on the horizon within the next 15 years.
There’s no way they’re profitable with that fee. Seems like horseshit to steal market share before jacking up prices.
But I can pay a delivery driver for those services (in the US) less than that… and they will drop off closer to the customer.
Neat idea, Amazon’s was a little more realistic with the idea of the individual locker going to the resident so you avoid bottlenecks with slow customer response.
Still, like much of the attempts to automate customer facing jobs, it’s often still cheaper to just underpay a person.
Counterpoint: we’re not very close at all to a 100% robotic global logistics chain and it will not happen in our lifetime if ever.
I wonder what the suggested tip percentages will be.
I wonder what service quality lies between barely competent robots and badly paid humans who just don’t care
This may work in Austin but good luck in L.A. Where do you think you’re going to park that thing?
Wow so another company has an fsd robot unlike Tesla which Elon claims it is coming soon!!!! How did they do it??? I guess they have more sensors then a lame camera which Elon claimed it would work on all teslas with fsd 3 hardware but Elon keeps saying soon and it’s better than a horse!!! Lmao
Oh great, here comes more dumb math to make things sound inevitable and profitable.
Funny, a friend of mine is a pilot in Rotterdam harbour. I wonder what he thinks of ‘almost all 100% automated’ next time he steps on board a ship with 20 filipino crew and a couple of Russian officers…
I’m sure a 25kg payload bot in Texas has him quaking in his boots for his job…
>Back before the Death Stranding, the comms and delivery networks were what held society together. The whole thing was automated–AI-managed, deliveries carried out by drone. The belief was that taking people out of the equation would revolutionize the whole system… but things didn’t quite pan out that way. Instead, we started seeing cases of what would eventually be dubbed “drone syndrome.” It was too much for some folks to accept, leaving everything to machines and nothing for the common man. And indeed, the oxytocin deficiency and hormonal imbalances we confirmed seemed to back up that assessment. Humanity needed to be part of the process. So laws were put in place, and we stepped back into the picture again.
We had a few different delivery robots over the past 5 years here in Toronto. People would kick them and knock them over. The city eventually banned them from using sidewalks because they were just causing problems.
They aren’t fast/stable enough or whatever to use the roads alongside cars and bikes.
I’m pretty skeptical that they will work, and especially not at that price.
My guess is not really that close at all. It might work in some cities but I doubt there it is any chance of it working in rural areas, especially when you factor in weather, the conditions of roads, and lack of infrastructure.
It would take billions of dollars just to get to a point where it might be feasible and I don’t think they’re going to doing all that for a $3 charge.
I delivered to a blind guy today on Doordash through a maze of an apartment but yeah guys lol
I watched a video on YouTube not long ago about fully autonomous delivery vehicles in Shenzhen China. They have drones delivering stuff too. It looked like about 20% of the vehicles on the road at any given time were these delivery vehicles. It seemed like there were lockers outside of residential buildings that it would put things in. I wonder what the economics of their programs look like. It seemed like it was working. Of course, no one messes with them because there are a million cameras everywhere.
Even after they have a working prototype that works on every road on the planet they will make like 10k/year for a decade and it will take them 50-75 years to make enough to actually be close to 100%. Scaling new technology is hard because you have to actually build manufacturing plants.
I’ve always thought this is the answer to drone delivery. Drone lands on delivery vehicle, vehicle approaches the house. Much less chance of human contact if the vehicle is moving on a road when the drone connects. The drone capture solution should be pretty straight forward. Have a fleet of them cruising around so they can be routed on demand.