Delivery robot takes the cycle path and drops off orders on the doorstep
A US start-up has unveiled a comparatively inexpensive autonomous delivery vehicle and will soon be using it on cycle paths.
Vayu One parking the delivery
(Image: Vayu Robotics)
Autonomous delivery robots have already been tested many times with below-average success - from large companies such as Amazon or DHL to smaller start-ups. The trials have always been limited to defined areas, such as the campus grounds of a university or sidewalks. In addition, the vehicles are still very expensive because they require complex environmental sensors, including laser-based Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) radar technology. This is the only way the systems can be considered reasonably safe and reliably avoid people or oncoming traffic.
It should also work without LIDAR
The American robotics start-up Vayu Robotics is now promising to bring a LIDAR-free system onto the market that can travel on regular roads - or more precisely, cycle paths - using passive sensor technology. It is controlled by a basic AI model that has been trained for robotics applications. The founders of Vayu Robotics are Mahesh Krishnamurthi and Nitish Srivastava, both of whom once worked in Apple's Special Projects Group (SPG), in which the company had bundled its (now discontinued) e-car plans. The CEO is Anand Gopalan, who - ironically - took the leading LIDAR manufacturer Velodyne public in 2020. One of Vayu Robotics' advisors is AI father figure Geoffrey Hinton (University of Toronto, Google), in whose lab Srivastava once worked. "The technologies we've developed at Vayu allow us to solve problems that have plagued delivery robots for the last ten years," says Gopalan, who believes that Vayu technology can now be used "actually on a large scale" to transport goods cost-effectively - and "everywhere".
However, the demonstration video that Vayu Robotics has published does not look much different from previous attempts. We see a blue robot the size of a cargo bike with a rectangular body. It goes by the name of Vayu One and is sent on its way by the customer via an app. The system is loaded in a supermarket. There, the robot dutifully follows an employee to the shelves, where it is then loaded with several boxes of groceries. Then it is off onto the road, with the device traveling on four small wheels. It turns onto a cycle path on the road as soon as possible and is also shown crossing a crosswalk. It travels at a maximum speed of 30 km/h, which corresponds to brisk cycling. The payload is 45 kilos. When it arrives near the delivery point - in this case a detached house - the robot drives onto the sidewalk. A flap then opens and an integrated mechanism places the delivery item down. The customer is informed so that they can pick it up at home.
OpenAI investor puts money into the start-up
The start-up has so far provided little information about the basic AI model used by the Vayu One - the fact that it is transformer-based applies to almost all popular AI models these days. Pre-mapping of road conditions is not necessary; the Vayu One should be able to navigate through stores and streets and place goods on terraces or driveways from day one. The sensor technology appears to be based primarily on camera signals. According to the company, this eliminates the need for software modules "that can only perform one task at a time".
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The idea has attracted well-known venture capital investors. In last year's seed round, Khosla Ventures, which has provided funding for OpenAI, DoorDash and Square, among others, invested 12.7 million US dollars in Vayu Robotics. The model is said to be agnostic to the form factor of the robot, so other rolling companions are also possible "in the near future". Even robots with two or four legs will be supported in the future. So it's not just about the delivery business. Nevertheless, there should soon be a larger end customer application: A "major e-commerce player" wants to use 2500 robots from Vayu Robotics in future to implement "ultra-fast product delivery". However, Vayu is not yet revealing the name of the company.
(bsc)
