Starship Technologies ties up with US firms for robot deliveries
Food delivery start-up DoorDash and courier service Postmates have formed a partnership with London-based robotic delivery developer Starship Technologies to conduct delivery trials. The tests will use Starship's self-driving delivery robots to carry food orders and packages in Redwood City, California and Washington, DC. Starship's robots travel along city pavements at a top speed of four mph, carrying loads of just over 40 lbs at a time. The robots are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and usually deliver within a two-mile radius.
Food delivery startup DoorDash and courier service Postmates have joined with robotic delivery developer Starship Technologies for conducting commercial delivery trials over the next few weeks.

With Starship's self-driving delivery robots, DoorDash will do the delivery tests in Redwood City, California, while Postmates' tests will take place in Washington, D.C. They will carry food orders and packages by largely rolling along city sidewalks on their own.

Starship's robots travel at a top speed of about 4 miles per hour on busy town sidewalks or streets, and can carry just over 40 lbs. at a time. The robots are generally programmed to deliver within a two-mile radius in real world scenarios. They are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

DoorDash and Postmates are the first US partners of Starship. The London and Estonia-based startup, which was launched in 2014 by Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, has already conducted similar robotic delivery trials in the U.K. and Germany.

According to Starship, its delivery robots as of October 2016 had come into contact with at least 1.7 million people in 16 countries and 56 cities. They have traveled 10,000 miles while making deliveries or conducting formal road tests.

As per the reports, the US partners do not expect robots to become their primary couriers. DoorDash's Stanley Tang reportedly stated that robots could deliver small, nearby orders, while human couriers could focus on larger and longer-distance orders.

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