Starship Technologies wants to fundamentally improve local delivery of goods and groceries – and make it almost free.
Estonian Starship Technologies wants to launch a fleet of small, smart and environmental friendly robot to deliver goods right at your doorstep.
The company is founded by two former Skype founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis who want to do the same to local deliveries what Skype did to telecommunications. “Our vision revolves around three zeroes – zero cost, zero waiting time and zero environmental impact,” says Heinla, the CEO at Starship Technologies.
But there’s no need to worry – the self-driving delivery robots are not going to interfere the daily commute on the streets. Thanks to the advance of mobile tech, these cute little helpers are able to avoid obstacles. They know how to watch out for people, stop at traffic lights and they can be seen at any moment by human operates – and taken over under control if necessary.
Amazing, right?
Now onto the specs of this charming little “Wall-e”:
The robot is equipped with space enough to hold 2 full grocery bags. Local deliveries will take from 5-30 minutes depending on the distance with the 4 miles/h speed (which is a normal human walking pace) – and person ordering can choose a precise time of delivery.
How can I tell my package is well secured? For starters, you can use the app to track the robot and only the app holder can unlock the robots container to get the package.
Starship eliminates the biggest inefficiency for business owners – last mile delivery. Isn’t it frustrating when you know that package is just around the corner but cannot be delivered until all orders are delivered and packed into the delivery van? Starship fixes that.
And the process doesn’t have to stop there, when you receive the goods. You can use Starship robot potentially for return of goods for instance.
Conclusion time:
The potential is great. I personally hate it when a package cannot be delivered when it’s right around the corner and Starship can totally fix that. However, security is everything these days. It’s, yet, to be seen how secure and durable these robots are against possible robbers and vandals who try to steal stuff since they are such an easy target for that. We just have to wait and see.
Starship future delivery design? Photo: Shutterstock
