Food delivery robots will soon take to the streets of London

The robots are capable of carrying up to 10 kilograms of food with no judgement

The next time you order in a pizza it could be brought to your door by a robot after Starship Technologies has announced that it will be trialing its automated food delivery vehicles in London later this month.

Starship Technologies is partnering with Europe’s biggest online takeaway service Just Eat and on-demand food startup Pronto for the London trials which will see the robots delivering food to areas of the city that are still to be confirmed from a small number of restaurants.

The robots are small and strangely cute six-wheeled vehicles specifically designed to transport up to 10 kilograms of food over short distances, usually covering a two to three mile radius at a speed of 4 miles per hour.

Each vehicle uses GPS, onboard cameras, and a variety of sensors to monitor its surroundings and move autonomously, though they can be taken over and controlled by a human operator in a command centre should it be necessary.

For anyone worried about the safety of their food as it trundles across the city without an escort for protection, deliveries are stored inside a compartment that’s secured by an access code. Customers are sent the code through text when their delivery is on its way. There’s also the option to track the robot’s progress in real-time via a mobile app should you wish to be extra vigilant.

The robots have already driven thousands of miles in tests that took place earlier this year across the world but Ahti Heinla, co-founder, CEO and CTO of Starship Technologies said in a press statement that this is “the next phase in [Starship Technologies’] development.” He went on to say that “While Starship has been testing the robots in 12 countries in the last nine months, we will now develop know-how on running real robotic delivery services.”

As well as London, the initial delivery trials will take place in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Bern before being rolled out across more cities in Europe and eventually the US.