Kiwibot Delivery Robots are Now Running Food Deliveries

If you live in San Jose, Miami-Dade County, Pittsburgh, or Detroit, then chances are, your next food delivery will reach your doorstep via delivery robots. The once robotic sidewalk delivery startup, Kiwibot, is now making its rounds as a last-mile delivery service thanks to its electric semi-autonomous robots.

The Kiwibot delivery robots look like small lunchboxes in wheels — and even acts like one too only of course, more advanced technologically. The food is safely secured inside the Kiwibot’s Inner Container Door and will keep it locked until it reaches its delivery destination. The Kiwibot will notify the recipient that the order is there through an app notification and only then can the door be unlocked.

Each Kiwibot can run and make deliveries for up to 10 hours and up to a distance of 12.4 miles. These semi-autonomous delivery robots are electric so it only needs four hours to charge on a 120v outlet. For only $3.99 per delivery, restaurants and food businesses can choose to charge the customer or absorb the delivery of these little lunchbox-looking delivery robots.

Unlike company, Coco, who’s also rolling out semi-automated delivery robots but is focusing on food deliveries, Kiwibot is also acting as a mapping and data-collecting robot.

By using a Mobility Data Specifications (MDS) framework and an automated data collection system, these delivery robots of Kiwibot help in gathering information that can improve traffic for pedestrians and cars plus check out for possible street upgrades to make cities more accessible. In fact, Kiwibot delivery robots have already mapped 368 miles just by traveling within four cities and can use the data gathered there for research.

With all these features and uses, the Kiwibot delivery robots not only help in the last-mile delivery chain of things but can be a major asset when it comes to city and infrastructure planning. Not to mention that its small lunchbox size can help reduce traffic as it does not have to fight for car space on roads. Plus, since it runs on electricity, emissions are drastically cut down.

The future of delivery robots definitely looks promising and it’s one advancement that can be advantageous for everyone.