Autonomous sidewalk delivery provider Serve Robotics has partnered with on-demand drone delivery provider Wing Aviation to pilot food transportation options that will “redefine last-mile delivery.” Together, the new partners will start testing autonomous robot-to-drone deliveries to customers several miles away.
Serve Robotics ($SERV) is a developer of advanced, AI-powered sidewalk delivery robots spun out as an independent company from Uber in 2021. Its investors include NVIDIA, 7-Eleven, and Uber Eats, which formed a partnership with its former entity to begin offering autonomous robot deliveries to select customers around Los Angeles.
As we reported in August, Serve expanded upon its 2022 partnership with Uber Eats, signing an additional deal with fast-food chain Shake Shack to offer select customers robot deliveries, beginning in Los Angeles.
Having your burger and fries delivered to you via an autonomous sidewalk robot feels quite futuristic in itself, but Serve Robotics is taking mobile food delivery to a new echelon with the help of Wing Aviation to test out robot-to-drone deliveries. Be sure to check out the demo video below.
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Source: Serve Robotics -
Robot-to-drone deliveries to begin in the coming months
Serve Robotics shared details of its new partnership with on-demand drone delivery provider Wing Aviation this morning. Together in the coming months, Serve and Wing plan to pilot a novel solution to autonomous food delivery they say will redefine last mile services. Serve Robotics CEO and co-founder, Dr. Ali Kashani, spoke about the partnership with Wing:
We’re excited to partner with Wing to offer a multi-modal delivery experience that expands our market from roughly half of all food deliveries that are within 2 miles of a restaurant, to offering 30 minute autonomous delivery across an entire city. Together, Serve and Wing share an ambitious vision for reliable and affordable robotic delivery at scale. Our end-to-end robotic delivery solution will be the most efficient mode for the significant majority of deliveries.
According to the partners, Wing deliveries will be able to be picked up by a Serve delivery robot from the curb or sidewalk in front of a participating restaurant, then delivered autonomously to a Wing drone AutoLoader nearby (see images above) before it is delivered by air to customers as far as 6 miles away.
Serve and Wing believe robot-to-drone deliveries will empower participating merchants to tap into this novel service without any changes to their facilities or workflow while significantly extending the delivery parameters of sidewalk delivery robots. The partners state this unique collaboration represents an important step towards establishing highly automated delivery as the preferred mode of transportation for small packages around the world. Wing CEO Adam Woodworth also spoke:
At Wing, we have been delivering food and other goods directly to consumers for over five years, completing more than 400,000 commercial deliveries across three continents. We have a proven ability to make deliveries quickly and efficiently. Both Wing and Serve offer innovative solutions that are changing the way goods are delivered. Through this pilot partnership, Wing hopes to reach more merchants in highly-congested areas while supporting Serve as it works to expand its delivery radius.
Serve and Wing outlined the benefits of robot-to-drone deliveries, including sustainability since both technologies are 100% electric, speed as the robots and drones navigate above gridlocks and on sidewalks, respectively, avoiding vehicle traffic, and cost-effectiveness as there is no need to tip a robot.
Pilot deliveries will begin in Dallas, Texas. Serve Robotics stated that details about operating area and fleet size will be shared at launch in the coming months.
Want to see how it works? Check out the demonstration video of the robot-to-drone technologies below, and look for these food deliveries in the coming months. Just maybe don’t order a soda with your food because it’ll probably get quite shaken up!