Ford and Walmart Collaborate to Design Automated Vehicle Delivery

The Walmart pilot will initially use human-driven vehicles to simulate the behavior of an autonomous vehicle, Ford said. Ford has announced plans to launch commercial production of automated vehicles by 2021.

Ford and its partners use Miami as a testing ground for automated delivery service ideas and automated vehicle technology.

The new pilot project will provide customers with Postmates delivery of products ordered from Walmart stores. Brian Wolf, leader of the Ford Autonomous Vehicles Unit, wrote in an article on his blog that the two companies will work over the "coming months" to determine which products can be successfully delivered, including Perishable groceries.

This may require new designs or new equipment for vehicles, Wolf wrote. Among the challenges Ford is working on is the design of easy-to-open integrated storage systems to allow customers to pick up a pizza or package.

According to its website, Postmates is present in 385 US cities and Mexico. It offers deliveries to restaurants and brick-and-mortar stores.

Walmart is competing with online retailer Amazon.com and other competitors to reduce the cost of merchandise delivery compared to what industry leaders call "last mile" for customers ordering online .

Replacing delivery van drivers with robotic systems could reduce delivery costs by the last mile. But technology remains expensive and the industry is still waiting for regulations that could help protect automakers or automakers against liability lawsuits.

Ford has focused on the commercial uses of autonomous vehicle technology, such as the delivery of goods, in contrast to rival General Motors, which is working on the construction of a robotic taxi service in its unit GM Cruise.

Ford is in talks with German automaker Volkswagen about a possible investment in its autonomous vehicle unit, people familiar with the situation said. No agreement has been announced.

In July, Ford announced the creation of a new commercial unit, the Ford Autonomous Vehicles, which would house its autonomous vehicle business. The automaker announced that it would invest a total of $ 4 billion in the unit by 2023.