It’s been a while since Amazon began testing its delivery robots called Scout in Snohomish County, Washington. Now, the retail giant plans on extending the program to Irvine, California. As part of the expansion, Amazon will be rolling out only a small number of Scout robots. Plus, these delivery robots will be delivering packages in broad daylight on weekdays only.
Amazon will also be assigning a human operator for every testing Scout in the streets. The robots will be autonomously delivering the packages, but an Amazon employee will be right around the corner should anything go wrong. These are the same policies that Amazon followed when it began testing Scout back in Washington.
For its tests, Amazon has been combining real-world tests and digital simulations of cities. For these simulations, Amazon is using 3D data of landscapes and obstacles and actual mapping of areas. Apart from autonomous robots for delivery, Amazon is also actively testing Amazon Prime Air with drone delivery, which is still in its early stages.
As part of the expansion program, the Scout robots will be seamlessly integrated into orders for customers in the Irvine area alone. So, if you’re a resident of Irvine, your next Amazon shipment might be delivered by an autonomous robot depending upon the logistics.
