On Tuesday, Uber made an announcement revealing its collaboration plans with Mitsubishi Electric and Cartken, a delivery robotics company, to introduce self-driving robots for food transportation through its Uber Eats business in Japan.
According to the companies involved, the initiative will kick off with sidewalk robot deliveries slated to commence by the end of March in a designated area of Tokyo. Uber Eats highlighted that Japan will serve as the inaugural international location for its autonomous delivery operations, which were previously confined to a handful of cities in the United States.
Cartken, established in Oakland, California, in 2019 by former Google employees, is the brain behind the “Model C” robot. These robots, equipped with artificial intelligence for navigation and capable of matching human walking speed, will constitute the fleet of robot couriers in Japan. Overseeing the operations will be Mitsubishi Electric, as confirmed by the collaborating companies.
In a statement, Anjali Jindal Naik, Cartken’s co-founder and COO, emphasized the significance of this partnership: “This collaboration signifies a leap forward in redefining the future of food delivery, making it more accessible and sustainable to consumers in Japan.”
The development in Japan represents the latest endeavor jointly undertaken by Uber Eats and Cartken, which already provide sidewalk robot deliveries in Miami and Fairfax, Virginia.
Furthermore, Uber Eats has forged partnerships with robotics firms such as Motional, Nuro, and Serve Robotics to conduct pilot programs for autonomous deliveries in various U.S. cities.
