Boston Dynamics tries using ‘robot dogs’ for deliveries

Can a $74,500 Spot robot find your front door?

Boston Dynamics’ robotic quadruped Spot has already found work doing routine factory inspections and patrolling the ruins of Pompeii , but what about deliveries? The company is testing a new conveyor belt accessory that allows Spot to carry packages from a vehicle and autonomously unload them on a customer’s doorstep in an effort to reduce a delivery driver’s workload.

While attempts have already been made to expedite and automate deliveries using wheeled robots or aerial drones, humans are still the most efficient way to navigate obstacles like stairs or cluttered pathways in order to get packages from a truck to a doorstep. A demo video shows a driver unloading packages onto Spot for doorstep distribution that Boston Dynamics hopes will be efficient enough to justify buying one of the $75k~ bots.

Boston Dynamics says it’s “already in talks with major logistics companies about testing Spot for a last-mile delivery solution” and its current goal is to move from these demos to a full pilot project.

Spot’s unique ability to clamber over uneven terrain and navigate complicated obstacles could facilitate its use as a delivery assistant. The robot is already frequently used to help comb through rubble as part of search and rescue operations, and Boston Dynamics believes those capabilities could make it well suited for navigating the “unstructured environments of suburban neighborhoods” where the path from the curb to a front door is rarely obstacle-free.

The robot will not only help reduce physical strain on delivery drivers, it will also give them more time for other tasks such as prepping the next delivery while Spot is dropping off its current payload, potentially increasing their capacity. “For every three packages delivered via Spot, we think we can add another package to the van,” says Paige Miller, Boston Dynamics’ senior staff product manager for Spot.