Rolling drones in London: delivery robots ready to begin work

“Ground drone” delivery robots that could easily be mistaken for toilet bowls on wheels are about to start rolling through London.

Starship Technologies CEO Ahti Heinla says the company’s fleet of “small, safe, practical, free from CO2 emissions, and best of all, earthbound” robots can deliver packages and groceries at a fraction of the cost of vehicles that require drivers.

“Our vision revolves around three zeroes — zero cost, zero waiting time and zero environmental impact,“ Heinla said. ”We want to do to local deliveries what Skype did to telecommunications.”

Heinla should know — he and Starship business partner Janis Friis are among the small group of techies and entrepreneurs who founded Skype more than a decade ago.

The ground drones are capable of carrying the equivalent of two grocery bags, and customers set the time for the delivery. They travel at a speed of about 6.5km/h, the equivalent of a brisk walk or slow jog.

Starship is thinking bigger than just grocery delivery. The company says the drones can cut costs for what it calls the “largest inefficiency in the delivery chain, the last mile”. Retailers can ship the goods in bulk to a local hub, then the robot fleet completes the delivery to the shopper’s door for a fraction of the cost of truck or even moped deliveries, the company says.