Boston Dynamics is testing its four-legged robot Spot for a new task to assist drivers with last-mile deliveries. The accessory developed by the company carries multiple packages on the robot’s back and leaves them at the customer’s door with the help of a short conveyor belt. Spot thus completes the path between the curb and the door on its own while the driver prepares the next delivery in the vehicle. Boston Dynamics aims to move the system out of the demonstration phase and into a comprehensive pilot project.
Although wheeled delivery robots work efficiently on smooth sidewalks, stairs, uneven floors and narrow passages limit their mobility. Aircraft, on the other hand, face different problems such as carrying capacity, safety and suitable landing area. Thanks to its four-legged structure, Spot climbs steps, maintains its balance on uneven surfaces, and moves autonomously along predefined routes. Boston Dynamics thinks this mobility will be an advantage in suburbs where there is no standard route between the sidewalk and the front door.
In the demonstration published by the company, the driver loads the packages into Spot next to the vehicle. After the robot moves to the delivery address, it lowers its body and operates the conveyor belt, transferring the boxes onto the veranda. The system thus releases the load without the need for a robotic arm or a complex mechanism to grasp the package. However, the driver must upload the packages to Spot, meaning Boston Dynamics is currently dividing the physical workload rather than removing the human from the process entirely.
Spot Senior Product Manager Paige Miller says they calculated that for every three packages the robot delivers, they can add one more package to the vehicle. This approach can enable the driver to reach more addresses in the same shift and prepare the next delivery while Spot is on duty. The robot can also ease the physical burden on the driver by reducing the need to carry heavy packages up stairs or long garden paths. However, the company needs to prove this efficiency claim on real delivery routes, in different weather conditions and heavy pedestrian traffic.
Spot’s high price will determine the outcome of the pilot project
Boston Dynamics states that it is in talks with major logistics companies for last-mile delivery tests and wants to move to full-scale pilot implementation as the next step. The company has not yet announced the names of the companies involved in the talks, the date of the pilot program or the price of the conveyor accessory. Spot goes on sale in 2020 $74,500 The starting price makes the efficiency calculation critical in the investment decision of logistics companies. Additional hardware, software integration, maintenance and fleet management costs can further increase the total cost.
So far, Spot has undertaken tasks such as routine inspections in factories, data collection in hazardous areas and search and rescue operations. Researchers also tested the robot’s autonomous movement ability in rugged and limited connectivity environments in various field studies. The delivery project applies the same motion infrastructure to a more common commercial problem. Long story short, Boston Dynamics is developing a robotic assistant that takes over the most tiring part between the vehicle and the door, instead of an independent courier that replaces the driver.
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