DoorDash has officially announced the launch of Dot, which happens to be the first ever commercial autonomous robot, which is designed to move seamlessly on bike lanes, roads, sidewalks, and driveways, thus proposing an ideal medium for local delivery.
According to certain reports, the stated robot is understood to be one-tenth the size of a car, meaning it can conduct quick deliveries at a much safer clip than the kind of alternatives we have witnessed thus far. More on the same would reveal how DoorDash’s latest brainchild can seamlessly clock speed of up to 20 mph.
Not just that, the robot’s all-electric design also treads up a longer distance to reduce congestion and emissions, while simultaneously ensuring fewer cars on the road and safer streets. Dot can provide, all in all, secure, agile item handoffs that integrate seamlessly into merchant operations to achieve a smooth and reliable experience for consumers.
“With more than 10 billion deliveries under our belt, we’ve learned what works, what doesn’t, and what scales,” said Ashu Rege, VP and Head of Autonomy at DoorDash Labs. “Making autonomous technology work for delivery requires reimagining it from the ground up. We’ve built Dot and our Autonomous Delivery Platform using advanced AI and robotics specifically designed for the complexities of local commerce.”
DoorDash also took this opportunity to introduce an Autonomous Delivery Platform, capable of playing the role of an AI dispatcher. The stated platform can basically match each order with the optimal delivery method based on factors like speed, cost, location, and experience. This translates to how the, regardless of whether it’s a Dasher, a Dot on the road, a drone in the air, or a sidewalk robot, the platform can seamlessly facilitate relevant decisions in real-time to optimize delivery.
Furthermore, leveraging collaboration with tools like SmartScale for merchants that use advanced AI-powered technology to ensure orders accuracy, the said Autonomous Delivery Platform should be able to support end-to-end AI for commerce, streamline handoffs, and set the stage for more reliable, efficient deliveries at scale
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in the fact that, for merchants, such a brand of autonomous delivery can allow them to reach even more consumers and get their orders fulfilled quickly, even during busy periods or late at night. On the other hand, consumers can access quick, reliable access to stores and restaurants of their preference.
Finally, in the case of dashers, they can leverage the underlying autonomous technology to focus more on the high-value orders that require human judgment and care.
“You don’t always need a full-sized car to deliver a tube of toothpaste or pack of diapers. That’s the insight behind Dot,” said Stanley Tang, Co-Founder and Head of DoorDash Labs. “The breakthrough wasn’t just making it autonomous, but in making it reliable and efficient to serve the needs of local businesses and consumers, and smart enough to optimize the best routes for delivery. Every design decision, from its compact size to its speed to the sensor suite, came from analyzing billions of deliveries on our global platform and understanding what actually moves the needle for merchants and consumers.”
