Covid-19 makes room for autonomous robots in the Last Mile

Since the beginning of coronavirus pandemic, we have commented on ILOS Insights sobre or great impact of isolation on delivery orders. Even before this phase, the demand for the last mile was already growing, mainly due to the expansion of e-commerce. After the arrival of COVID-19, numbers exploded, especially orders for delivery from supermarkets, pharmacies and restaurants. This fact overloaded the supply chain and existing delivery infrastructures, negatively impacting delivery time and service quality.

With this system under pressure, technology appears as a possible solution. Thatiana Nomi commented in a text on ILOS Insights recently about the use of drones for deliveries of essential items in rural communities and hospitals. When we talk about urban centers and deliveries from restaurants, pharmacies, supermarkets and e-commerce, eyes also turn to autonomous robots.

Starship delivery robot waits for the pedestrian light to open to cross a street in Fairfax, Virginia
Source: Starship

The development of the technology used in these “little helpers” is nothing new. However, the pandemic is increasing the advantages of its implementation, while finding a more favorable environment for its tests. Regarding the first point, what I want to say is: the need for isolation, the exposure of couriers to contamination and the high demand for last mile deliveries are barriers that the punctual use of autonomous robots can help us with, for example, making deliveries elderly people, infected people or field hospitals. As for the second, the current situation we have is of cities with less movement, more empty streets, fewer pedestrians. This is a scenario that allows for the safer implementation of this technology, which is still in the testing phase.

In some countries, the application of autonomous vehicles for deliveries is already growing. In Arizona (USA), a pizzeria is using robots from the company Starship Technologies to deliver your products within a radius of 1km from your base. In China, during the lockdown months, 16 communities located in the west of the country received their perishable food on the back of a robot developed by startup Unity Drive Innovation (UDI). JD.com and Meituan-Dianping are examples of Chinese e-commerces which used AVs (Autonomous Vehicles) to meet demand in isolated areas. In South America, a company that is carrying out tests with this technology is Rappi, which started this initiative in partnership with KiwiBot in the second half of April in the city of Medellín, the second largest in Colombia.

Rappi has been making approximately 120 deliveries per day with 15 robots in the pilotage area in Medellín (Colombia)
Source: rappi

In Brazil, mentions of the use of robots in last mile deliveries are rare. In October 2019, the iFood announced a partnership with the company Synkar, and said it would start testing in controlled environments in the city of São Paulo in 2020. However, there are no updates at this time regarding the implementation of this project. Not only here, but in many countries, the widespread use of robots comes up against regulations. Labor issues, traffic rules and legal standards are impacted when we put autonomous vehicles on the street. To increase the application of this technology, special concessions need to be asked from regulatory bodies, usually a lengthy process. Countries like Brazil, which have a high level of violence and a low level of education, also have other obstacles, such as the high probability of theft of these autonomous vehicles. Still, urban planning is necessary to enable their locomotion, with uniform sidewalks and ramps for their passage. In addition to all the aforementioned points, the high cost of developing and implementing this technology must be taken into account, which makes it less accessible.

One fact is clear: despite the favorable environment for increasing tests with autonomous robots, our reality is still far from its wide implementation. The benefits in containing the spread of the virus are visible, as well as the positive impacts of its use in the delivery market in a post-pandemic environment, as the demand for deliveries is not expected to decrease to pre-covid levels, considering that consumers are becoming attached to the new consumption habits that isolation has imposed on us. Certainly, those countries that are taking advantage of this moment to put efforts into testing autonomous vehicles will come out of this pandemic a few steps ahead in the automation of cities, a future that is far away for Brazilians.