You can now find driverless delivery 'robots' transporting goods around places like California, Texas, and Arizona. They've been carrying a variety of grocery and food items, documents, packages, and more.
In Arizona, Kroger and Nuro have recently embarked together on their own journey to pilot robot grocery delivering services.
A great deal of people today still prefer to travel to the grocery store to pick up their goods and plenty of companies are working to try and change that.
From well-known corporations to new startups, a wide variety of people are hoping to change the way that people go about shopping for their groceries. Whether that's ordering them online or having them delivered to them by a self-driving vehicle, there are many changes that are transforming the way that we go about getting our food.
There are a number of different delivery bots being tested and currently on the streets, bringing goods to those who order them. You can find them also being used in various settings, from transporting food on public streets to bringing supplies throughout a hospital or carrying goods around a hotel etc. This technology will continue to become much more prevalent in our society as more people look for cost-efficient and convenient ways to get people the goods that they need or desire.
Starship Technologies spokesman (Starship robot seen above) Henry Harris-Burland, has suggested that they are hoping these bots can play a critical role in addressing real problems. Namely, that by offering alternative transportation solutions that they can get more cars and vans off the road. As well, that they can increase options for delivering to handicapped or elderly individuals who might have more difficulty getting around than others.
Will the effort eventually pay off, might a growing number of people some day adapt their grocery shopping habits and instead opt to order online and receive their food delivered right to their doorstep? For now, most of us still prefer to make our food choices at grocery markets that are brick-and-mortar locations but that could change some day.
Some regions in California, such as San Francisco, have sought to ban these sorts of delivery robots, and because of that those behind such projects have suggested that they plan to move elsewhere; to go somewhere more welcoming.
According to a previous survey from Temando, which included responses from at least 1,000 US consumers, it's estimated that there are a growing number of individuals today who want more delivery options for getting their groceries. The survey showed that roughly 77 percent of consumers want more delivery options such as guaranteed weekend shipping or after-hours shipping; many would be willing to pay a premium for such options. However, other surveys such as previous Gallup polls, indicate that about 80 percent or more of U.S. adults would prefer to go into the grocery store themselves to pick out their food and that they never order their food online.
Pics:
pic 1 Korger via wcpo
pic 2 - pixabay
pic3 - homdor