Robots make deliveries on streets of San Mateo

For udelv CEO Daniel Laury, the opportunity to test the autonomous delivery vehicle his team has been hard at work on for the last two years was as exciting as it was gratifying after the orange vehicle ably navigated traffic lights and lane changes on its 2.5-mile loop through the city Jan. 30. And to join relief at a major milestone for his project were other signs of success — the smiles and stares from those who witnessed its first public trip.

“It’s actually very cute,” he said. “We want it to be very, very friendly.”

The rows of black, shiny compartments lining the sides of the vehicle can be unlocked by customers using an app, which is also used by customers to schedule delivery orders. But that’s just one of many pieces of technology behind the vehicles, which Laury said include hardware such as sensors, cameras, computing equipment, a re-engineered steering wheel system and software allowing operators to take control of the vehicles remotely.

Though the startup’s ultimate goal is for the vehicles to go driverless, Laury said Peninsula residents can expect to see a safety driver in them for the foreseeable future to comply with the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ regulations. Laury said the safety of those around the vehicles exceeds all other priorities as the startup begins testing its technology with grocery deliveries in San Mateo.

“It doesn’t really matter if we break the eggs or if we spill the wine,” he said. “We will always, always program the computer to protect the pedestrians.”

Though the company is starting with two vehicles in its fleet, Laury said he’s hoping it grows to five in the next two months or so and eventually dozens in the months to follow. He said the company is testing through a partnership with Delivery Guys, which coordinates deliveries for the San Mateo grocer, and hopes to expand to other stores the service works with in the future. He added vehicles in the udelv fleet would be one of several methods Delivery Guys uses to ferry deliveries to those ordering them.

After observing Laury and Akshat Patel, udelv’s chief technology officer, load one of the vehicle’s compartments with grocery bags, San Mateo resident Lauren Shein said she would definitely be interested in using the service. As someone who doesn’t drive, she said she was encouraged by the idea that the vehicles could save her a trip to the store.

“I think it’s fabulous what’s going on,” she said.

Acknowledging the deliveries sparked some questions about whether developing robot technology could take jobs away from local workers, Mayor Rick Bonilla said seeing the orange delivery vehicle in action last month proved to be interesting, bringing up other questions about the role it could play in mitigating congestion on San Mateo streets.

“We have to figure out where we’re going to employ all our people,” he said. “On the other hand, though, this particular new innovative technology allows this vehicle to eliminate a lot of trips from our streets.”

Though Laury and his team are focused on perfecting their test runs, he said they’ve already thought about how the robots could go beyond saving their customers a trip to the grocery store. Helping customers return goods at stores or deliver forgotten keys to a family member are just some of the applications they have imagined for the vehicles, but they are thinking of new ideas every day, said Laury.

“We want the San Mateo residents to think about this as progress and improving their lives,” he said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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