Retail
7-Eleven and Nuro have announced a pilot program for autonomous delivery in the state of California. Residents in Mountain View, Calif., can order products through the 7NOW delivery app and have them delivered by a self-driving vehicle.
Read more: Nuro, 7-Eleven Launch Self-Driving Delivery For...
Le Bread Xpress, which has created a robotic vending machine for baking a variety of meals and pastries on demand, has announced that Macy’s Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, Calif., has installed a custom-branded Bake Xpress. The machine provides a full menu of fresh-baked meals and pastries that complements the beverage and snack options provided by Macy’s. The new machine features a Macy’s-branded machine wrap and custom menu chosen by the retailer.
Gatik and Walmart have announced that Gatik is operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel for delivery routes in Bentonville, Ark., moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market with its fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks. Gatik said it represents the first time that an autonomous trucking company has removed the safety driver from a commercial delivery route on the middle mile anywhere in the world.
Serve Robotics, which develops autonomous sidewalk delivery robots, has announced a partnership with Uber Technologies that expands its on-demand robotic delivery service to Uber Eats customers starting in Los Angeles early next year.
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Ottonomy has announced it is now enabling contactless food delivery with Los Angeles-based mobile ordering app, Crave, focusing on the restaurant and hospitality sectors. Ottonomy said it has been piloting both indoor and outdoor delivery in markets across the country in multiple industries and sectors, including airport and retail environments.
Miso Robotics, which develops intelligent automation for the food service industry, has unveiled the newest model of Flippy, its flagship product. Flippy 2 is based on key learnings and feedback from its partner, White Castle, which deployed the original Flippy system in the Chicagoland area in September 2020, and plans to expand to additional locations once the pilot is over.
Read more: Miso Robotics Launches Flippy 2 Food Preparation...
Badger Technologies, a division of Jabil focusing on retail automation, has launched a pilot program with Busy Beaver Building Centers, which operates 24 full-line home improvement centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. As part of the pilot in Irwin, Penn., Badger’s multipurpose autonomous robots will monitor on-shelf product availability and verify prices for more than 30,000 SKUs while freeing highly knowledgeable sales associates to spend more time with customers.
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) and its food services provider, Sodexo, have teamed up with Starship Technologies to roll out the university’s food delivery service via autonomous robots. NC A&T is the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to partner with Starship, as well as its first partnership in North Carolina.
Read more: Starship Launches Robot Food Delivery at NC A&T...
Denmark’s UVD Robots has announced a global partnership agreement with OCC Commercial Consulting to help bring its UV-C disinfection robots to supermarkets, food service and retail environments. The company also announced receiving a second order of 100 robots from the European Commission, following a 200-robot order in November 2020.
China’s Pudu Robotics has announced
completing its C2 series financing round worth approximately $77 million, which was secured within only four months of its Series C1 series of $78 million. The C2 round funds will be used for further research and development, new product development, new site launches, and expansion of its global network.
Pudu Robotics, which manufactures commercial service robots, has announced the global availability of KettyBot, the latest generation of its delivery and reception robot. The low-cost and high-efficiency system is equipped with a top-tier advertising display and artificial intelligence systems for delivering items to customers, such as high-traffic restaurants.
AxleHire, a last-mile delivery logistics company, has announced they would be expanding two new zero-emission pilot programs with Tortoise and URB-E. The pilots are set for Los Angeles (Tortoise) and New York City (URB-E), and will be scaled nationally in 2021 and 2022 in other cities where the companies currently have operations.
Read more: AxleHire Plans National Expansion, Partners With...
Schunck Markets has announced a chainwide expansion with Simbe Robotics and its Tally inventory robot to elevate the grocer’s business operation and customer experience. Building on previous expansions, the multi-year, full-scale rollout will bring Tally robots to all 111 Schnucks locations across the U.S.
A2Z Drone Delivery, which develops tethered freefall drone delivery mechanisms, has announced the launch of its RDSX commercial delivery unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Developed with a leading global logistics provider, the system aims to deliver dual payloads per flight, helping drone service providers streamline deliveries while reducing consumer concerns around residential drone delivery.
Bell and Howell, which provides automated e-commerce pickup solutions, has unveiled the QuickCollect GO! POD, a new robotic e-commerce order pickup solution that eliminates labor-intensive order touchpoints through next-generation automation and intelligent software.
Read more: Bell and Howell Unveils QuickCollect Go! POD to...
Piestro, a robotic pizzeria developing high-quality artisan pizza, has announced partnering with 800 Degrees Pizza, an international pizza brand by world-renowned chef Anthony Carron. The partnership will offer customers a fully automated culinary experience, equipped with an authentic, custom pizza recipe designed for Piestro’s cooking technology.