In Japan, Uber Eats to deliver food utilizing Cartken's sidewalk robots

To deliver food to customers in Japan, Uber is partnering with autonomous robotics startup Cartken and Mitsubishi Electric to launch a self-driving sidewalk robot service.

The services provided by the Uber Eats app will go live by the end of March in a few areas of Tokyo, according to the announcements made by the firms. Operating hours will be announced closer to the start date, an Uber representative stated.

Uber and Cartken, a 2019 startup created by former Google engineers who were responsible for the short-lived Bookbot, already collaborate on a delivery service in Miami and Fairfax, Virginia. Their latest arrangement is their first venture outside of the US. Mitsubishi Electric will oversee operations in Tokyo.

The delivery service will be handled by Model C, Cartken's autonomous sidewalk robot. The robot moves at roughly 3.3 miles per hour and is equipped with an insulated 27-liter payload bag. The robot is equipped with a wealth of sensors, including cameras and sophisticated algorithms, which enable it to sense, identify, and eventually navigate its surroundings. Additionally, Cartken includes a mechanism that lets employees see and control the robot from a distance, if necessary. According to an Uber representative, Mitsubishi Electric staff members who have received training in Cartken's remote guidance system will utilize the teleoperations interface. 

Robot delivery is an efficient solution to the logistics crisis, which will only get worse in the future, according to Shoji Tanaka, senior general manager of Mitsubishi Electric's advanced application development center.