Mail delivery robot tests on Tokyo highway amid pandemic

TOKYO – Japan Post Co. unveiled to the press on Wednesday an autonomous mail delivery robot, the first of its kind on a public highway in Japan, as demand grows to minimize human contact amid the pandemic. of coronavirus.

Using built-in cameras and sensors, the robot, which is the size of a wheelchair, operated on a sidewalk in Tokyo’s Chiyoda district, dodging obstacles such as utility poles and crossing an intersection with traffic lights.

The robot is in the midst of a series of tests that began on September 18 and will run through the end of October and will see it travel 700 meters from a convenience store in a hospital to a local post office in about 25 minutes.

The red DeliRo robot developed by ZMP Inc. is capable of transporting packages weighing up to 30 kilograms at a speed of 6 kilometers per hour, according to Japan Post, which aims to implement autonomous transport vehicles in the tax arena . 2021.

Based on the test results, the Japanese government will discuss easing regulations on autonomous delivery robots, which currently cannot circulate on public roads without human supervision. The DeliRo test run was conducted after Japan Post registered the robot with the police as a vehicle.

Japan is also stepping up its push for autonomous delivery services in hopes that they will ease the acute labor shortage in the rapidly aging country.

In the United States, automated robots are being used to make home deliveries of things like medicine and groceries.