PLEASANTON — The robots are coming.Grocery delivery via robot is now available from the Lucky California supermarket in Pleasanton to about 1,500 homes nearby, after the grocer announced a partnership Wednesday with San Francisco-based company Starship Technologies.
The robots are equipped with an array of cameras and sensors, and use “sophisticated machine learning” and artificial intelligence to travel on sidewalks and avoid obstacles. “The robots can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow,” the company said in a statement.
Aragon said younger people commuting to or from work each day could take or leave the delivery service, but “for elderly people, I think it would be fantastic,” he said, as well as for anyone who just can’t make the time to get to the store. But Shore, 40, who lives nearby, said he’d likely try out the service anyhow, as it’s cheaper than other human-based delivery services.
While Starship’s robots are some of the first doing deliveries from a grocery store in the Bay Area, robots are becoming more commonplace in public as technologies advance. McDowell said that program has been “seamless,” has had “an immense amount of success” so far, and the store has since expanded its robot delivery service area to encompass about 55,000 homes.“This is just another option for them and we think it’s a pretty cool option,” he said of bringing the service to Pleasanton.