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PIX Moving

Robomart Partners With PIX Moving to Build Mobile Retail Stores On Top of PIX’s Skateboard Chassis Platform

Robomart, a company that helped pioneer the concept of “store hailing” when it first brought its concept of mobile convenience stores to CES five years ago, announced it had signed a deal with autonomous mobile vehicle platform company PIX Moving to utilize PIX Moving’s expertise in autonomous vehicle production to enhance its fleet of mobile retail stores.

PIX is a logical partner for Robomart on which to build its mobile storefronts because the PIX chassis has always been designed to enable functional and end-use design flexibility from the get-go. PIX’s platform allows for custom-designed compartments, which can be optimized for specific needs like size and temperature control. When we first covered PIX here at the Spoon, one of the concepts the company envisioned was a mobile grocery or convenience store on wheels.

Chinese company Pix Moving is taking a bit of a different approach to autonomous vehicles by removing most of the vehicle. The company is building a self-driving chassis platform on top of which its customers can build whatever they like.

So a big restaurant chain could create a mobile pod of lockers for meal delivery, or a grocery store could create a temperature-controlled store on wheels. A large warehouse-type store could just attach a flat base for moving inventory around.

Since then, PIX has expanded its vision towards building its own branded vehicles and has started calling its chassis a “skateboard chassis platform. ” The Robobus model PIX unveiled a couple of years ago looks pretty similar to the original Robomart concept, so building the next-generation autonomous Robomart models on top of the PIX platform looks like a fairly smooth transition.

I asked Robomart CEO Ali Ahmed how he sees the PIX-powered vehicles being rolled out and integrated with the current Robomart fleets, and he says that the PIX chassis-based Robomarts will start to be phased into the fleet starting near the end of 2025. Spoon readers will know that the current-gen Robomarts – which are called the Oasis model – are retrofitted sprinter vans manned by a driver and that Robomart introduced its autonomous version concept (called the Haven) last summer when it announced a funding round of $2M. Now, we know the PIX platform will power the Robomarts of the future, and, according to Ahmed, it will sit underneath both future smaller stores (like the future autonomous versions of the Oasis) and bigger stores in the Haven.

While it may not be a mobile store, you can see a PIX vehicle in action in the video below.

Meet PIX Moving Space at the park

PIX Moving Raises Pre-Series A Round of Funding for Self-Driving “Skateboard” Chassis

PIX Moving, a Chinese company that makes chassis for self-driving vehicles, announced at the end of last week that it has raised a Pre-Series A round of funding. Details in the English-language press release provided to The Spoon didn’t provide a specific dollar amount, only saying it had raised “tens of millions” in Chinese Yuan. The only investor listed in this round is Guizhou Transportation Planning Survey&design Academe Co., ltd.

Dubbed the “skateboard,” PIX’s chassis can be used to power a number of different types of low-speed autonomous vehicles. Most relevant to Spoon readers, restaurant or third-party delivery companies could use affix lockers on top of PIX’s skateboard to make a mobile automat, or a grocer could create a temperature-controlled store on wheels.

According to today’s press announcement, 23 types of vehicles have been developed using PIX’s platform, and vehicles have been delivered to roughly 100 customers around the world. To help speed up production of its skateboard, PIX has also developed Lightsaber, a 3D metal printing manufacturing system that removes the need for molds.

When we last checked in with PIX, the company was still navigating the various regulations around self-driving vehicles in China and the U.S., though the company had deployed vehicles to private campuses in both countries.

While self-driving vehicles still have a number of hurdles to overcome before they go mainstream, they have gotten much closer to hitting the road, as it were, over the past year. Last year, Nuro’s self-driving pod-like vehicle got approvals from the federal and California governments to operate on public roads. More recently, Gatik, which builds autonous delivery trucks for the middle mile, announced that it would operate two of its routes without human drivers this year.

As it moves closer to market, PIX said it will use its new funding to mass produce its vehicles for a variety of applications.

PIX Moving Makes a Customizable Autonomous Chassis for Delivery

There are a variety of different autonomous vehicles of all shapes and sizes coming to market: From the cargo vans of Udelv, to the pod-like R2 from Nuro, all the way down to the cooler sized sidewalk robots from Starship.

Chinese company Pix Moving is taking a bit of a different approach to autonomous vehicles by removing most of the vehicle. The company is building a self-driving chassis platform on top of which its customers can build whatever they like.

So a big restaurant chain could create a mobile pod of lockers for meal delivery, or a grocery store could create a temperature-controlled store on wheels. A large warehouse-type store could just attach a flat base for moving inventory around.

PIX’s chassis is electric and low-speed, which allows it to sidestep some of the more complex regulations associated with full-sized, full-speed autonomous vehicles. All four wheels of the PIX chassis are steerable, making it highly maneuverable. It’s also 3D printed, so its lightweight and there are fewer parts. And, like any autonomous vehicle, it is packed with an array of sensors and cameras to navigate and avoid obstacles.

I spoke with Chase Cao, PIX COO, by phone this week and he explained that his company is currently navigating the rules and regulations both in China and the U.S. to get its self-driving platform running on public roads. In the meantime, its chassis is being used on some private corporate campuses in both countries. Right now, PIX sells its chassis outright, though Cao said they may look at more of a leasing model in the future.

PIX is worth watching, especially as it relates to food delivery, because of the flexibility of its platform. By pushing the design of the compartments that carry the cargo to its customers (restaurants, grocers, etc.), those compartments can be tailored to a specific set of needs (size, temperature, etc.). This can then create more efficient delivery, and thereby generating even more demand for autonomous delivery.

In other words, there will be even more variety of self-driving vehicles coming to our roads.