British grocery retailer Co-op and Leeds City Council have announced a partnership to roll out autonomous grocery delivery robots in Leeds.
The service will be overseen by robotics company Starship Technologies, which will make the bots available to 20,000 residents initially within the Adel and Tinshill area of Leeds. Groceries will be supplied by local Co-op stores on Spen Lane (Tinshill) and Otley Road (Adel).
Grocery orders can be made through an app for iOS and Android, with the companies behind the scheme claiming grocery orders arrive within an hour.
Customers can also watch the robot travel in real-time via an interactive map and receive an alert when the robot arrives to meet it and unlock it through the app.
Delivery fees start from 99p, with this expansion in the North of England for the first time following the introduction of autonomous deliveries in Milton Keynes, Bedford, Northampton, Cambourne, and most recently Cambridge.
Since the robots were first introduced into the UK, Starship estimates that 1.1 million miles of car journeys have been saved, representing a 445-tonne reduction in CO2 emissions.
Chris Conway, e-commerce director, Co-op, said: “Co-op is committed to exploring new and innovative ways to increase access to its products and services.
“Co-op stores are well placed to provide quick home deliveries in communities with products picked fresh in our local stores – whether that is a full grocery shop or for those last-minute top-ups, treats for evenings at home or forgotten items.
“We are delighted to be expanding into Yorkshire to provide flexible, quick and convenient options online for shoppers in our communities.”
Helen Hayden, councillor and Leeds City Council’s executive member for infrastructure and climate, said: “As a council we are absolutely committed to delivering alternative, sustainable methods of travel to help reach our target of becoming net-zero by 2030.
“Since the pandemic, we have seen a huge increase in the number of home deliveries.
“This pilot will be transformative and will provide an alternative home delivery provision which will particularly benefit residents with mobility problems or those facing other challenges which make accessing local facilities difficult.”
According to Starship, the robots are battery powered, lightweight, travel at the speed of a pedestrian (no faster than 4mph or 6km/h) and are designed to use a combination of sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning to traverse pavements and navigate obstacles. The developer adds that they were developed to use computer vision-based navigation to enable them to map their environment to the nearest inch.
Since launching commercial deliveries in 2018, Starship’s robots have reportedly completed more than four million deliveries worldwide.
