Its not a big surprise to see the eCommerce giant Amazon start off the new year with a new, innovative way to deliver packages to it’s customers. Amazon has begun testing its Amazon Scout – a small robot that has been dispatched in a county in Washington. This robot will be used to deliver packages during the day to people in the county, and it is an interesting take on autonomous delivery. Below is the link to the article I found about this robot, and a link to a short video displaying the concept behind this piece of technology. The use case presented in the article circles around the idea that this robot would allow customers to get their packages from the robot rather than having the packages stay outside. This in turn can help reduce the change of a theft occurring. However, the author mentions they are speculating.
This robot is an interesting idea because we are aware of the implications that were made when Amazon announced it was delving into drone delivery. Another type of autonomous delivery system could be fruitful as we become a more tech-integrated society. A concept from class that comes to mind is the idea of system thinking. This is definitely something that needed to take place when formulating the tech and use case for the Amazon Scout, as this type of delivery system affects not only them, but customers, carriers, and of course those who deliver packages which could imply a conflict with jobs.
Many questions come to mind when reading this article and watching the video. One major concern/question I have is related to the weather – what happens if there is rain/snow/extreme cold? This is something that I entrust Amazon has looked into, but it limits a potential scope to certain parts of the world and certain times of the year. Sure the cost savings that could come about from the short time frames can be beneficial, but I wonder if its really worth it in the long run. This type of investment is just a baby step in my opinion, and I am interested to see what will come of it. What do you all think of a Scount sidewalk delivery robot?
Article: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/01/amazon-begins-testing-deliveries-with-sidewalk-drones/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peaKnkNX4vc&feature=youtu.be
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