Chinese online retailer JD.com has launched two smart delivery stations in the cities of Changsha and Hohhot, strengthening its autonomous delivery capabilities.
The stations provide a base for JD.com’s autonomous delivery robots, which can be loaded with up to 30 parcels before delivering them direct to recipients within a 5km (three mile) radius of the station. The vehicles plan routes, avoid obstacles, recognize traffic lights and leverage facial recognition technology to facilitate secure access to parcels. Running at full capacity, the delivery stations, operating with a split between robots and couriers, can deliver up to 2,000 packages a day.
The opening of the new stations coincides with JD’s debut at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, taking place from January 8-11.