Swiss robots to deliver Just Eat takeaway meals

Just Eat experiments with meal delivery by robot Keystone-SDA

One of the world's largest food delivery platforms, Just Eat Takeaway, has turned to a Swiss company to experiment with robotic home deliveries.

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RIVR, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), has been chosen to conduct the pilot phase in Switzerland.

“Together with Just Eat Takeaway.com we are working on a new generation of robotic deliveries, starting in Switzerland,” RIVR wrote on its website. “We plan to introduce more robots in other European cities by the end of the year, with potential expansion into retail shops and convenience stores.”

During the trial phase, the robots – equipped with four limbs capable of climbing up and down stairs and fitted with wheels to navigate complex urban spaces – will deliver Just Eat customers’ orders on behalf of the Zekis World restaurant in Oerlikon.

For the first 30 days, the automatons intent on their transports will be closely monitored. In a second phase, the entire process will instead be monitored remotely, in a control centre away from the robots.

RIVR’s automatons travel at a maximum speed of 15 km/h and are made visible to traffic and pedestrians by lights and a flag. Thanks to artificial intelligence, they are able to adapt to their surroundings, avoiding obstacles such as rubbish cans, grass and passers-by, the researchers claim.

In addition, they are designed to deliver quickly and reliably even in rain, snow or strong winds.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/mga

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