Air-based drone deliveries are still very much in the territory of the future, which is perhaps why Amazon is now testing the next best thing: sidewalk drones that basically do the same thing.
Unlike Amazon's promise of drone deliveries, these things, which the company calls "Scout," don't fly. They are land-based drones that stroll along sidewalks to deliver items to customers.
Details about the actual robot is scant, but it does make Amazon the latest company to enter the incipient industry of robot-aided deliveries. The electric hamper looks similar to other robots. Actually, Scout highly resembles devices from Starship Technologies, a startup that is one of the earliest players in this field.
Amazon Scout
The Scout has six wheels and is powered by an electric battery. It moves rather leisurely, at walking pace, to be more specific. No surprise, then, that Amazon has deployed only six of these babies at the moment. Roaming around in a single neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington, these Scouts will deliver packages in "daylight hours" between Monday and Friday.
Amazon says the robots will be accompanied by human overseers, at least the first few deliveries. This is to ensure the devices can "safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path."
Sidewalk Deliveries
The technology is still very raw, and Amazon will likely need time to perfect its approach. By contrast, Starship also conducted a similar experiment, but in its case, it used a full-size van as a "mothership" to carry a fleet of up to eight sidewalk drones to a neighborhood, along with a truckload of packages. A human worker then transported the packages from the truck to the sidewalk drones, which will deliver the items to their designated addresses.
So many potential hurdles arise in this delivery method, for sure. For starters, there's the question of whether these robots can truly be autonomous. They're slow, but that can obviously change down the line. But even if Amazon solves that problem, how will it solve, say, thieves poaching items carried by Scout robots? Also, how will they navigate tricky terrain such as unruly sidewalks?
Clearly, the technology is there, but there are far too many problems to solve before sidewalk deliveries become mainstream. It'll likely take a few years before people start seeing robots marching peacefully along curbs, but Amazon's test is a good step toward that direction.
