Swiss Post and technology developer Starship Robots have partnered with renowned Swiss department store Jelmoli to trial local deliveries in the center of Zurich.
Jelmoli customers can select the corresponding delivery option during the checkout process at jelmoli.ch and enter the delivery location of their choice within a predefined area in the city center, along with their preferred delivery time slot.
For example, this makes it possible to have a picnic delivered to a park bench by the lake, to have running shoes delivered to a hotel or to have a new shirt delivered directly to the office. Shortly before the robot arrives, the customer receives a link via SMS, which is needed to open the delivery compartment. Jelmoli is offering its customers the robot delivery option free of charge during the pilot project.
The Starship robots completed around 200 delivery rounds in 2016 and covered 1,000km (620 miles). The data collected during these trials has been incorporated into the development and optimization of the robots, which are currently being accompanied and monitored by trained specialists.
Over the coming months, Swiss Post will test the use of the delivery robots for further logistics tasks from food deliveries to sending medical products and same-day delivery of special items. Alongside delivery robots, Swiss Post is also testing other autonomous systems such as logistics drones and intelligent shuttles.
August 29, 2017