Two former Google employees have started their own startup and want to build an autonomous delivery truck. R1, so the provisional name of the self-propelled vehicle is to make transports faster by completing so-called last mile rides.
Founded by two former Google employees, Starto Nuro is committed to developing an autonomous vehicle. The R1, the internal project name, looks like an oversized shopping bag with handle. The vehicle should deliver food, general purchases or laundry to the recipient. Why? Deliveries from the last edit point to the addressee would expect faster deliveries in the age of online shopping, writes The Verge.
The R1 has already been approved by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Nuro wants to start soon with the first public road tests. However, before the test run can start in other states, it still requires the approval of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Authority. Although the car from ex- google employees drives autonomously thanks to the built-in sensors and cameras, it can also be controlled remotely.
Before the right start, however, other questions must be clarified. For example, it is currently not clear who Nuro will work with. Conceivable is the cooperation with local shops, which bring the goods to the customer with the R1. Users could be notified via the app about the arrival and then possibly authenticate themselves by code to open the loading flaps of the R1.
From previous financing rounds Nuro collected just under 92 million US dollars, the project from ex- google employees is therefore secured for the time being. However, there are also in the field of last-mile deliveries competitors: Starship Technologies, for example, uses delivery robots, but only drive on the sidewalk. The Ford Motor Company has teamed up with Domino’s restaurant chain to deliver pizza in a self-driving car. Startup Udelv is soon planning the first public test of delivery – but with a human backup driver sitting in the vehicle.
