this driverless delivery concept becomes a reality with major US supermarket launch

here with another driverless delivery concept, nuro is the product of two ex-google engineers and an electric self-driving delivery car bringing you pizza, groceries and more. the silicon valley startup which developed its own self-driving system has come out of stealth mode and raised $92 million, planning to infiltrate the commercial delivery sector.

now the delivery service concept will become a reality as kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, is teaming up with nuro to launch a fully driverless delivery service. although the two companies announced the news on thursday, details are limited. however, the pair have outlined that the during the test process, the nuro fleet of autonomous vehicles will be used for delivery. it is is expected to go through its first tests this fall.

all images courtesy of nuro.ai

nuro’s concept began with a focus on low-speed, local, and last mile deliveries (that’s when the product you want hits your nearest depot and needs a little help getting to your door). the vehicle has been designed to accommodate anything from groceries, laundry, or pizza, in a bid to automate these services. the company hopes that by doing so, it could boost local businesses who compete in the age of amazon, as well as reducing traffic accidents.

the vehicle comes at a time when last-mile deliveries are more popular than ever before as a recent study by mckinsey put a yearly global price tag on them which stands at around $86 billion. other competitors include toyota who unveiled their ‘e-palette’ concept at CES this year and amazon themselves who continue to develop their drone delivery concepts.

however, nuro’s r1 prototype is slightly less flashy in that it is pretty much a large electric lunchbox on wheels. a ‘handle’ on the roof acts as a platform for the vehicle’s sensor array including LIDAR, cameras, and radars. to perfect actual use of the nuro, the company has deployed six self-driving cars to collect data and optimize routes which is fed into the prototype vehicles. the startup has confirmed a permit from the california DMV and plans to start testing on public roads later this year.

the safety aspect comes out of the vehicle’s narrow design which allows a 3 to 4 foot buffer so that other vehicles and pedestrians can move around it. the buffer is supposed work particularly well if you walk out onto the road unknowingly and would otherwise have gotten run over by a normal sized vehicle earlier on in your departure than you would with the nuro r1. whilst the startup has raised $92 million in two rounds of fundraising, it is currently inhttps://nuro.ai talks with a number of retailers and delivery providers about possible partnerships.