Uber Eats has expanded autonomous food deliveries to Miami under a new partnership with robotics company Cartken. AI-powered robots will start making deliveries from select retailers in the Miami suburb of Dadeland today. The companies plan to expand autonomous deliveries to other parts of Miami-Dade County and more cities in 2023.
Uber Eats started two autonomous delivery pilots in Los Angeles in May after teaming up with Motional and Serve Robotics (which spun out of Uber). In September, Uber Eats agreed a 10-year deal with Nuro for autonomous food deliveries, beginning in Texas and California.
Cartken also works with Grubhub on college campus deliveries. Its six-wheeled robots use NVIDIA Jetson tech along with sensors and cameras to help them avoid collisions and take routes with fewer hazards. The machines, which are built by Magna, have a cargo capacity of 1.5 cubic feet, which is roughly the same as two full paper grocery bags. They can travel at up to six miles per hour, depending on conditions and the environment.