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Thu 27 Feb 2025
Avride has announced that its automated pavement robots will begin delivering restaurant orders to customers in several neighbourhoods in Tokyo.
The Texas-based firm has been operating a commercial delivery service using its robots since 2021 on the Ohio State University and the University of Arizona campuses, as well as some districts in Moscow, Russia.
The Tokyo service represents a broader roll-out and the firm’s first deployment of its robots in Japan.
It is being launched in partnership with Rakuten, one of Japan’s largest e-commerce and technology companies. It first trialled robotic delivery pilot programs in 2019.
Starting today, the robots will be delivering a wide range of products from restaurants including a branch of Starbucks and groceries from various supermarkets.
Avride revealed the latest generation of its delivery robots in October last year. They are capable of up to 13 hours of continuous movement and travel at 3-5mph while navigating pavements. They transitioned from the previous six-wheeled design of earlier models to four wheels in a bid to improve energy efficiency and movement precision.
Its driverless functions are powered with Nvidia’s Jetson Orin platform, which the firm said was “widely recognised” as one of the best solutions industrial robotics and autonomous systems.
The robot comes equipped with a spacious cargo compartment large enough to hold several large pizzas or multiple grocery bags and a sliding lid that ensures the cargo is only available to the right customer.
The new service will start small with just 10 robots for now, but Avride plans to expand it over time.
Hideaki Mukai, vice president of the incubation business at Rakuten Group, said: “Amid labour shortages in Japan’s delivery industry, we are witnessing increasing demand for reliable and convenient delivery solutions. We are delighted to collaborate with Avride to further expand our autonomous delivery service here in Japan.”
Japan is currently contending with an ageing population and shrinking workforce that has put an outsized strain on its logistics infrastructure, which automation technologies could help to alleviate.
Uber Eats also began trials of a robot delivery service in Japan last year.
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