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Another robotics startup thinks it has solved the last mile delivery problem ahead of London unveiling

A tech startup developing electric autonomous vehicles is putting the finishing touches to its technology ahead of its big unveiling in London next week, amid hopes it can radically reduce the cost of last mile delivery for freight and delivery firms.

Wales-based Academy of Robotics, founded by serial entrepreneur William Sachiti, has been developing its Kar-Go electric autonomous vehicle in partnership with UK car manufacturer Pilgrim, which utilises driverless car sensors and AI software to help it navigate through urban environments.

Now the firm, which has been developing the tech at a warehouse in Brighton, is looking to show off a prototype of the vehicle at an event in London on Wednesday 14 June in front of investors and retail partners.

Launched in 2016, the Kar-Go product has already gained the legal requirements from the government’s Centre for Autonomous Vehicles to operate on public roads, although the prototype currently only functions on unmarked roads and payments.

Explaining where the firm’s autonomous vehicle stands currently, Sachiti commented: “We can now modify vehicles by adding our driverless car sensors, A.I. software and our package management system, which consists of compartments each containing packages belonging to different customers.

“As the vehicle arrives at each delivery address, the system automatically selects the package belonging to the corresponding customer.

“So far, we have a working prototype robot which can drive itself on unmarked roads and pavements between any two locations. We are also simultaneously working with Pilgrim to create our street legal versions.”

The last mile problem

Kar-Go is certainly not the first robotics and autonomous vehicle company looking to solve the ‘last mile’ problem, whereby complex urban environments, congestion and problems sorting deliveries often makes the final leg of a package’s delivery the most expensive and inefficient.

London and Estonia-based Starship Technologies is already trialling partly autonomous robots on streets across the world, including a partnership in London with Just Eat, which can travel via pavement to deliver small packages and takeaway food.

On a completely different tack, London addressing startup what3words has developed its own unique address system, splitting the world up into 3m x 3m squares and assigning a unique three word address to each square to help improve delivery accuracy in countries that lack a formal addressing system.

Kar-Go’s efforts meanwhile combine both robotics and autonomous vehicle technology and has the ultimate aim of getting its fully-fledged driverless cars on the road around the world, with Sachiti claiming that the firm is developing custom driverless versions of high performing cars.

He added: “We’re also hoping to unveil a unique Cobra and one of a kind classic Porsche both made by our car manufacturers.” Says Sachiti.

“This way we’ll be able to demonstrate our technical know-how and attract serious car enthusiasts.”