By: Alex Hern
January 24, 2019
Amazon’s drone delivery service may be missing in action but the company has not given up on its dream of robots delivering parcels.
It is launching Amazon Scout, a service employing six squat six-wheeled delivery robots, across Snohomish County, Washington, just north of its Seattle HQ.
“These devices were created by Amazon, are the size of a small cooler and roll along sidewalks at a walking pace,” the head of the Scout project, Sean Scott, wrote in a blogpost. “The devices will autonomously follow their delivery route but will initially be accompanied by an Amazon employee.
“We developed Amazon Scout at our research and development lab in Seattle, ensuring the devices can safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path.”
In 2013 Amazon’s boss, Jeff Bezos, launched Amazon Prime Air and announced an intention to begin offering flying deliveries direct to the home within five years.