Uber, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Electric and autonomous robotics startup Cartken, is introducing a self-driving sidewalk robot delivery service in Japan to provide food for their customers. The service, accessible through the Uber Eats app, is set to start in a specified zone in Tokyo by the end of March, with its operating schedule to be revealed soon before its launch.
Uber has worked with Cartken earlier, in 2019, to provide delivery services in Fairfax, Virginia, and Miami. The collaboration, initiated by former Google engineers who previously created Bookbot, now branches out internationally to Japan under this new agreement with the added partnership of Mitsubishi Electric, who will oversee the operations in Tokyo.
Cartken’s Model C, the autonomous sidewalk robot, will fulfill the delivery tasks. Equipped with a thermally insulated 27-liter cargo bin, the robot operates at approximately 3.3 mph, utilizing deep learning softwares and cameras that aid in environmental autonomy. Cartken also designed a system that allows personnel to monitor and control the robot remotely. The teleoperations interface provided by Cartken will be utilized by Mitsubishi Electric employees under Cartken’s guidance.
Senior General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric’s advanced application development center, Shoji Tanaka, endorses robot delivery as a viable solution to the impending logistics crisis. He added that this initiative will likely influence the spread of robot delivery services across Japan, and said they plan to integrate autonomous robots in buildings and factories, exploiting one of their main strengths, to extend delivery services within varied facilities.
