Singapore has officially launched a one-year trial using autonomous robots to deliver online shopping goods and groceries to around 700 households in Punggol.
CAPE TOWN, March 12 (ANA) – Singapore on Thursday officially launched a one-year trial using autonomous robots to deliver online shopping goods and groceries to around 700 households in Punggol.
According to reports, the cuboid-shaped robots on wheels stand about three feet high and will allow for convenient delivery in which consumers can choose when they want their goods delivered to their flats instead of having to stick to a fixed delivery schedule. The robots will amble along at 5km/h, writes Channel News Asia (CNA).
Consumers will book the robot via an app where they will indicate their preferred mode of delivery and will be notified once the robot is en route and upon its arrival at the drop-off.
Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary said the robots would ease the strain on a very labour-intensive logistics sector and that the data collected from the trial will pave the way forward.
“Do you want to go to the shop, choose your goods and then get the robot to deliver it? Or do you want to just shop online and have it turn up on your doorstep,” Puthucheary told CNA at the launch.
“What’s the intensity in which people will engage with this… is it a once a week thing, is it a once-a-day thing? It’s the customer experience,” he said.
Puthucheary added that the project could potentially generate new business models and allow them to easily scale up without being dependent on manpower as a limiting step.
According to The Straits Times, a daily newspaper in Singapore, the Punggol area was chosen for the trial run due to its relatively young demographic and infrastructure, which allows the robots to smoothly move around.
At the moment, the robots are not available for hire on Sundays and public holidays, and only from Mondays between 10am to 7pm, and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
