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CEO Liu also says that the robot will soon be equipped with the technology needed to operate an elevator, which means that it will no longer be confined to deliveries on the ground floor.
A robot delivery Zhen Robotics demonstration in Beijing. (AFP pic) s
BEIJING: Along a quiet residential street on the confines of Beijing, a yellow and black cube the size of a small washing machine quietly file to its destination.
This "little yellow horse" is an autonomous delivery robot, carrying daily commodities such as drinks, fruit and snacks from the local store to residents of the "Kafka" complex in the Chinese capital.
Equipped with a GPS system, cameras and radars by their creator as the future of logistics in China, where he says that a billion packages will eventually be delivered each day.
Traveling less than three kilometers (two miles) per hour – a slow human walk – the robot has "The weak point is that he can not deliver directly to the door like a human," said the customer, who does not live on the floor. floor.
"Bu C & # 39; is still very practical.The robot takes advantage of the love of Chinese consumers for cashless payments and smartphone purchases.
China is the largest market of 39 online shopping in the world with more than half of its population making at least one smart phone purchase per month, according to professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which compares to 14% in the rest of the world.
Whether they buy electronics or toilet paper, avocados or clothes, the Chinese simply have the habit of tapping a button on their smartphone and getting a home delivery To obtain a delivery via the "little yellow horse", the customer selects the desired products, types the address and pays via his phone.
The staff of the supermarket places the items in the robot, and the robot 19659004] One Billion Paq uets
Liu Zhiyong, founder and CEO of Zhen Robotics, who makes the robot, sees a bright future for his yellow creation.
"Currently, 100 million packages are delivered every day in China.This will be a billion in the future," said Liu to AFP
"There will be not enough human to make deliveries.We need more and more robots to fill this lack of manpower.And to reduce costs, "adds the CEO
These costs are particularly high in the last kilometer of a delivery, where the accuracy is the key and personalized service is required to bring the product to the front door.
moment, yellow robots in the door. Kafka's speaker have little to disturb them, moving along a wide sidewalk without obstacles – and without cars.
Weighing 30 kilograms (about 65 kilos) and with a theoretical top speed of 12 kilometers per hour on their six wheels, the robots have four cameras that constantly sweep the world around them and a sys laser remote sensing system allowing them to avoid obstacles.
Liu's firm has already signed Suning, a large electronics company that also runs a network of
But not everyone is convinced that robots are a long-term logistics solution .
Shao Zhonglin, former deputy general secretary of the China Express Association, noted that they were useful "on a short distance". 19659004] "However, it is not certain that they can be a global solution for the last kilometer of delivery because the customer has yet to pick up his package," adds Shao.
"In addition, the costs remain quite high: purchase and maintenance of robots, operating costs, etc."
"Not resizable"
But Zhen Robotics is convinced that costs will decrease over time.
CEO Liu also says that the robot will soon be equipped with the technology needed to operate an elevator, which means that it will no longer be confined to deliveries on the ground floor.
In the meantime, shipments to China are being made more and more by autonomous means. In recent months, several companies have been given the green light to operate drones, either to deliver directly to the customer or to transport goods between platforms.
Liu warns anyone who tries to vandalize or steal the yellow robot [19659004] "With GPS, we are constantly finding them, the cameras are filming and it can sound the alarm," he said. .
"Anyway, what would a thief do with it? This is not exactly resalable."
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