[ad_1]
|
Take heed to this text  |
A drawing from DoorDash’s patent submitting for a supply robotic. | Credit score: DoorDash/USPTO
Final week, DoorDash launched DoorDash Labs, its robotics and automation division that’s been working since 2018. DoorDash has examined last-mile supply with a variety of robotics corporations since 2017, together with Cruise, Marble and Starship Applied sciences. Nevertheless, none of these options appear to have caught for DoorDash.
The meals supply large seems to be creating its personal autonomous supply robots.
DoorDash hasn’t publicly revealed any particulars about its supply robots, but it surely has filed a number of related patents with the US Patent and Trademark Workplace. In Might 2019, it filed two patents for an autonomous supply automobile. The patents have been authorized in September and October of 2021 and embrace diagrams of an autonomous supply robotic.
DoorDash instructed The Robotic Report that patents aren’t essentially indicators of what’s truly beneath improvement. Whereas the robots DoorDash finally publicly reveals might look and work in another way, the patents and diagrams not less than give us a glimpse of what DoorDash has in thoughts.
“DoorDash Labs’ aim is to develop and implement robotics options that complement the Dasher neighborhood, enhance effectivity in our total community, and end in a extra environment friendly, improved expertise for all audiences DoorDash serves,” a Doordash spokesperson stated in an emailed assertion. “We’re dedicated to working intently with security consultants and regulatory stakeholders to implement finest practices as we discover the in-house improvement of automation applied sciences.”
This drawing exhibits a aspect view of what DoorDash’s supply robotic might appear like. | DoorDash/USPTO
The patents don’t reveal an excessive amount of in regards to the specs of the robotic. In a single patent, DoorDash describes an autonomous automobile that would carry two to a few 22-inch pizza containers. DoorDash makes use of the phrases “numerous embodiments,” which means the scale and storage capacities might differ going ahead. In line with the patent, the automobile might navigate pedestrian pathways, sidewalks, bike lanes and roadways in residential areas. The automobile might attain speeds between 18-25 mph and weigh between 200-300 lb.
In a single patent, DoorDash stated its robotic might have a sensor that extends upward from the physique of the robotic at a top of 3-5 ft. DoorDash has filed patents for numerous different parts for an autonomous supply automobile, together with a digital automobile management system and a sensor stack for an automatic supply automobile.
For comparability, supply robots from Starship are 22.5 inches tall, weigh 55 lb. and might carry as much as 30 lbs. Nuro’s R2 supply automobile is far bigger than Starship’s robots, providing payload capability of 419 lbs and most velocity of 25 MPH.
A drawing of DoorDash’s supply robotic with an open storage compartment. | Credit score: DoorDash/USPTO
DoorDash additionally employed Ashu Rege as DoorDash Labs’ new vp of autonomy. Rege spent six years at Zoox, an autonomous automobile firm. At Zoox, Rege spent three years because the senior vp of software program engineering. Zoox was based in 2014, and acquired by Amazon in 2020 for $1.2 billion.
In its announcement of DoorDash Labs, DoorDash stated it “recognized a spot in current automation purposes,” and it’s seeking to fill that hole with its personal expertise. DoorDash stated it’s searching for an answer that’s constructed to scale and is absolutely built-in with its system.
Many autonomous supply robots use a last-mile supply system, the place the robotic picks up the order from a location between the service provider and buyer, after which delivers the meals to the client. DoorDash is seeking to automate the center mile of its deliveries utilizing a hub-to-hub mannequin. On this mannequin, orders could be aggregated in areas with many retailers, like a shopping center, and the robotic would carry the order to a hub nearer to clients. A human “Dasher” might then choose up orders from the hub and produce them to the client.
In DoorDash’s hub-to-hub mannequin, a robotic would transfer between service provider and shopper hubs with deliveries.
No stranger to robotics
DoorDash isn’t any stranger to supply robots or autonomous autos. It’s been testing numerous robots since 2017, when it first partnered with Starship Applied sciences. Later in 2017, DoorDash partnered with Marble Robotic, to start testing robotic deliveries in San Francisco. Most just lately, in 2019, DoorDash partnered with Cruise to check its autonomous vehicles’ skill to ship orders in San Francisco.
In August of 2019, DoorDash acquired Scotty Labs, a tele-operations firm engaged on expertise that might enable individuals to remotely management self-driving autos.
In February 2021, it acquired Chowbotics, an organization that created a robotic that assembled customized bowls on-demand in an hermetic, refrigerated container. DoorDash stated it has been increasing its robotics staff with strategic acquisitions, like Chowbotics.
DoorDash Labs is seeking to rent autonomy engineers, robotics technicians and software program engineers for autonomy platforms. All indicators appear to level in the direction of DoorDash rolling out its personal autonomous supply robots.
[ad_2]
