Package delivery robot uses AI to climb steps, navigate neighborhood

Record ID: 1984619

  • Title: Package delivery robot uses AI to climb steps, navigate neighborhood
  • Date: 19th March 2025
  • Summary: SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 18, 2025) (Reuters) RIVR ROBOT KNOWN AS MILO PACKAGE BEING HANDED OFF WOMAN SMILING AND LAUGHING WHILE WATCHING MILO MILO OPERATING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF RIVR, MARKO BJELONIC, SAYING: "It's a very exhausting job. So what we are building is like augmenting that workflow by having a robot that covers some of th
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Nvidia Nvidia GTC RIVR RIVR last-mile delivery autonomous delivery remote controlled delivery systems
  • Location: SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,North America,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA001991018032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The final stretch from a delivery truck to a customer's door - known in the logistics industry as the last mile - is often one of the most time- and labor-intensive parts of the job for delivery drivers around the world.
    RIVR, a robotics company from Switzerland, showcased a robot designed to tackle that job at NVIDIA’s annual software developer conference in San Jose, California, on Tuesday (March 18).
    “It's a very exhausting job,” said Marko Bjelonic, 35, CEO and co-founder of RIVR Robotics. “So what we are building is augmenting that workflow by having a robot that covers some of these miles so the driver can focus on other things.”
    The robot, named Milo, is designed to independently travel from a delivery truck to a customer’s doorstep, and can traverse a variety of obstacles along its route. It’s equipped with four legs that allow it to hop down from a truck to the ground, wheels that let it whiz down the sidewalk, and a crane-like arm on top that’s can directly hand customers an envelope or small package. The robot uses AI technology to make decisions about how to navigate obstacles in its path.
    RIVR robots are already making deliveries to real-world customers in Switzerland, and Bjelonic says the company is eyeing expansion in the U.S. to cities including San Francisco and Boston.
    (Production: Nathan Frandino, Jeffrey Kopp)
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