As part of a new pilot program, food delivery robots will soon start roaming the streets of a neighborhood in Dubai.
The food delivery robots, known as talabots, have been introduced in Dubai Silicon Oasis by the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, and online food ordering startup Talabat, according to news agency Wam on Wednesday.
Residents of Cedre Villas, a gated enclave in Dubai Silicon Oasis, will be served by three delivery robots.
Robots Range of Delivering Food
For a quick 15-minute delivery, robots will go up to a three-kilometer radius from the Cedre Shopping Centre.
The robots protect people’s identities by obscuring their features and without having any facial recognition technology.
They have sensors and algorithms built into them that can intelligently assess their environment and identify obstacles in their path, keeping a safe distance from young children and animals.
Customers will be greeted at their doorsteps by robots that will deliver orders from the neighborhood eatery to residences in the Cedre Villas neighborhood.
The Talabat app will allow users to follow the robots’ progress and receive notifications when they reach their property.
Customers can use the instructions on the app to unlock the safe container after the robot has arrived.
The initiative intends to improve environmentally friendly last-mile delivery choices in the United Arab Emirates and is consistent with Dubai’s 2030 target of shifting 25% of all transportation to smart and driverless modes.
In an effort to achieve these sustainable last-mile delivery objectives, Talabat first debuted the robots at Expo 2020 Dubai.
The robots delivered food to consumers at the Expo site from Talabat’s cloud kitchen.
Talabat has operations in nine countries in the region and collaborates with about 50,000 branches of more than 25,000 different brands.
The meal delivery service recently unveiled an ambitious plan to grow operations in the UAE by expanding ridership to 30,000 by the end of the year from its existing 15,000 riders and slashing delivery times to 15 minutes.
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