Was I Wrong About Sidewalk Delivery Robots?

By Adrian Gonzalez

Today is the 129th Boston Marathon. I don’t think there are any humanoid robots entered in the race, but based on how humanoid robots performed a few days ago at a half-marathon in China, the 30,000 human runners lining up at the starting line in Hopkinton, MA this morning have nothing to worry about.

Robots and AI have been dominating the headlines the past few years as emerging trends that are in the process of transforming supply chain and logistics operations. In the case of robots, there are many types and form factors, including humanoid robots, automated mobile robots, sidewalk delivery robots, and autonomous trucks and drones (if you really want to stretch the definition).

I’ve written about many of these types of robots in previous posts:

Back in March 2019 I published a video commentary titled, “FedEx SameDay Bot: Will Delivery Robots End Up In The Trash Heap Of Ideas?” It was in response to FedEx’s introduction at the time of its SameDay Bot (later called Roxo), which was “designed to travel on sidewalks and along roadsides, safely delivering smaller shipments to customers’ homes and businesses.” A few weeks earlier, Amazon had introduced Amazon Scout, a delivery robot the size of a small cooler that will “roll along sidewalks at a walking pace.” In that video, I raised the question: Will these types of small delivery robots, designed to travel on sidewalks, gain traction or will they ultimately end up in the trash heap of ideas?

I revisited this question in August 2020, during the Covid pandemic, in a post titled, “Delivery Robots: Out Of The Trash Heap Of Ideas?” Here’s what I wrote at the time:

The pandemic has certainly changed the value proposition of delivery robots. There is now a health and safety component to them that didn’t exist just six months ago. Delivery robots may still end up in the trash heap of ideas, but revisiting their potential in light of the pandemic — as another solution to the sharp rise in e-commerce sales and the health and safety concerns of delivery drivers and consumers — is worthwhile, nonetheless.

In 2022, however, both FedEx and Amazon discontinued their sidewalk delivery robot programs (see “FedEx is shutting down its robot delivery program” and “Amazon stops field tests of its delivery robot Scout”). You can say Roxo and Scout were tossed in the trash.

Fast forward to today and sidewalk delivery robots by other providers are still among us.

Last week, for example, DoorDash and Coco Robotics announced “an expansion of their partnership to offer sidewalk robot delivery for DoorDash customers in select U.S. markets.” Here are some details from the press release:

This builds on an existing pilot program with Wolt—DoorDash’s international arm—where Coco robots have been making deliveries in Helsinki since earlier this year. The U.S. rollout is now live in Los Angeles and Chicago, where eligible customers can see the availability of Coco’s fleet of emissions-free sidewalk robots and may have one assigned to their order from nearly 600 participating merchants through the DoorDash app. During the initial pilot phase, Coco completed over 100,000 deliveries for DoorDash customers.

“Not every delivery needs a 2-ton car just to deliver two chicken sandwiches,” said Harrison Shih, Senior Director of DoorDash Labs. “We believe the future of delivery will be multi-modal, and we’re thrilled to partner with Coco to expand sidewalk robot deliveries that complement the Dasher network as we continue to enhance the DoorDash experience for customers and merchants.”

Also last week, Starship Technologies announced that its sidewalk delivery robots have surpassed 8 million autonomous deliveries. “While many robotics companies are still launching pilot projects with just a couple of robots or building their first prototypes, we’ve proven ourselves as a real-world solution,” said Ahti Heinla, Starship’s co-founder and CEO in the company’s press release. “With millions of deliveries behind us [via 2000+ robots operating across 150+ locations in six countries], we’re not just imagining the future—we’re already operating in it.”

Maybe I was wrong about delivery robots.

Maybe they have a role to play in short-distance deliveries (less than 5 miles) of food, groceries, and small parcels in cities and college campuses — and to deliver supplies in hospitals and other similar environments.

What will be another tipping point for me? When transportation management systems (TMS) include sidewalk delivery robots in their optimization and mode selection algorithms.

In the meantime, I’m off to watch the Boston Marathon. In a few years, who knows, we might have a humanoid robot cross the finish line first. If that happens, I won’t know whether to cheer or cry.

What are your thoughts about the future of sidewalk delivery robots? Post a comment and share your perspective.