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A drawing from Doordash’s patent submitting for a supply robotic. | Credit score: Doordash/USPTO
Final week, Doordash launched Doordash Labs, its robotics and automation division that’s been working since 2018. Doordash has examined last-mile supply with numerous robotics corporations since 2017, together with Cruise, Marble and Starship Applied sciences. Nevertheless, none of these options appear to have caught for Doordash.
The meals supply big seems to be creating its personal autonomous supply robots.
Doordash hasn’t publicly revealed any particulars about its supply robots, however it has filed a number of related patents with the USA Patent and Trademark Workplace. In Might 2019, it filed two patents for an autonomous supply automobile. The patents had been accredited in September and October of 2021 and embrace diagrams of an autonomous supply robotic.
Doordash advised The Robotic Report that patents aren’t essentially indicators of what’s really underneath growth. Whereas the robots Doordash ultimately publicly reveals might look and work otherwise, the patents and diagrams at the least give us a glimpse of what Doordash has in thoughts.
“DoorDash Labs’ objective is to develop and implement robotics options that complement the Dasher neighborhood, enhance effectivity in our total community, and lead to a extra environment friendly, improved expertise for all audiences DoorDash serves,” a Doordash spokesperson stated in an emailed assertion. “We’re dedicated to working intently with security consultants and regulatory stakeholders to implement greatest practices as we discover the in-house growth of automation applied sciences.”
This drawing exhibits a aspect view of what Doordash’s supply robotic might seem like. | Doordash/USPTO
The patents don’t reveal an excessive amount of concerning the specs of the robotic. In a single patent, Doordash describes an autonomous automobile that would carry two to 3 22-inch pizza packing containers. Doordash makes use of the phrases “varied embodiments,” that means the scale and storage capacities might differ going ahead. In keeping with the patent, the automobile might navigate pedestrian pathways, sidewalks, bike lanes and roadways in residential areas. The automobile might attain speeds between 18-25 mph and weigh between 200-300 lb.
In a single patent, Doordash stated its robotic might have a sensor that extends upward from the physique of the robotic at a top of 3-5 ft. Doordash has filed patents for varied different elements for an autonomous supply automobile, together with a digital automobile management system and a sensor stack for an automatic supply automobile.
For comparability, supply robots from Starship are 22.5 inches tall, weigh 55 lb. and may carry as much as 30 lbs. Nuro’s R2 supply automobile is far bigger than Starship’s robots, providing payload capability of 419 lbs and most velocity of 25 MPH.
A drawing of Doordash’s supply robotic with an open storage compartment. | Credit score: Doordash/USPTO
Doordash additionally employed Ashu Rege as Doordash Labs’ new vp of autonomy. Rege spent six years at Zoox, an autonomous automobile firm. At Zoox, Rege spent three years because the senior vp of software program engineering. Zoox was based in 2014, and purchased by Amazon in 2020 for $1.2 billion.
In its announcement of Doordash Labs, Doordash stated it “recognized a spot in current automation purposes,” and it’s trying to fill that hole with its personal know-how. Doordash stated it’s searching for an answer that’s constructed to scale and is absolutely built-in with its system.
Many autonomous supply robots use a last-mile supply system, the place the robotic picks up the order from a location between the service provider and buyer, after which delivers the meals to the shopper. Doordash is trying to automate the center mile of its deliveries utilizing a hub-to-hub mannequin. On this mannequin, orders can be aggregated in areas with many retailers, like a shopping center, and the robotic would carry the order to a hub nearer to clients. A human “Dasher” might then choose up orders from the hub and convey them to the shopper.
In Doordash’s hub-to-hub mannequin, a robotic would transfer between service provider and shopper hubs with deliveries.
No stranger to robotics
Doordash is not any stranger to supply robots or autonomous autos. It’s been testing varied robots since 2017, when it first partnered with Starship Applied sciences. Later in 2017, Doordash partnered with Marble Robotic, to start testing robotic deliveries in San Francisco. Most lately, in 2019, Doordash partnered with Cruise to check its autonomous automobiles’ capability to ship orders in San Francisco.
In August of 2019, Doordash acquired Scotty Labs, a tele-operations firm engaged on know-how that might permit individuals to remotely management self-driving autos.
In February 2021, it acquired Chowbotics, an organization that created a robotic that assembled customized bowls on-demand in an hermetic, refrigerated container. Doordash stated it has been increasing its robotics workforce with strategic acquisitions, like Chowbotics.
Doordash Labs is trying to rent autonomy engineers, robotics technicians and software program engineers for autonomy platforms. All indicators appear to level in direction of Doordash rolling out its personal autonomous supply robots.
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