• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Skip to navigation
Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

  • Home
  • News
    • Alternative Protein
    • Business of Food
    • Connected Kitchen
    • COVID-19
    • Delivery & Commerce
    • Foodtech
    • Food Waste
    • Future of Drink
    • Future Food
    • Future of Grocery
    • Podcasts
    • Startups
    • Restaurant Tech
    • Robotics, AI & Data
  • Spoon Plus Central
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Connect
    • Send us a Tip
    • Spoon Newsletters
    • Slack
    • RSS
    • The Spoon Food Tech Survey Panel
  • Advertise
  • About
    • Staff
  • Become a Member
The Spoon
  • Home
  • News
    • Alternative Protein
    • Business of Food
    • Connected Kitchen
    • Foodtech
    • Food Waste
    • Future Food
    • Future of Grocery
    • Restaurant Tech
    • Robotics, AI & Data
  • Spoon Plus Central
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Slack
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Become a Member

ZMP’s CarriRo Rover Robot Aims to Make Food Deliveries in Japan

by Chris Albrecht
August 29, 2019August 29, 2019Filed under:
  • Behind the Bot
  • Delivery & Commerce
  • Robotics, AI & Data
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

One of the things that struck me during my recent trip to Tokyo was the lack of robots. I figured a town so futuristic would be filled with them. But if Japanese robotics company ZMP has its way, I could spot a few scurrying around by the time I attend the Smart Kitchen Summit: Japan next year.

The Japan Times reports that ZMP has developed an autonomous, four-wheeled rover robot called the CarriRo Deli, which the company wants to use for food deliveries. The CarriRo is nearly fully autonomous, meaning it can navigate to its destinations and avoid obstacles on its own. If it gets stuck in an unfamiliar situation, a robot teleoperator can intervene.

The CarriRo is 65.4 cm wide × 96.2 cm long × 95.6 cm high, goes 6 kilometers per hour and can carry 50 kg. For comparison, Starship’s rover bots are 56.9 cm wide x 67.8 cm long x 55.4 cm high, go 6 km per hour and can hold 10 kg. The CarriRo comes in various configurations with either a single storage compartment or smaller four and eight storage bin options. Additionally, the CarriRo also features LED eyes to make it more lifelike (like the Kiwi-bot!).

ZMP has held trials at various universities in Japan (that sounds familiar!). But Japanese law currently prohibits autonomous vehicle travel on public roads, though the government is looking at opening up public roads for unmanned robot trials before April 2020.

Here in the U.S., there are a number of companies looking to use rover robots for last-mile delivery including the aforementioned Starship, as well as Marble, Refraction AI, Kiwi and even Amazon. Though companies need to deal with various local and state laws here as well before delivery robots become commonplace.

Japan is an interesting test case for robot-driven food delivery as the country faces a greying population, which is causing a labor crunch. Robots are seen as a way to ease that labor shortage and help the elderly. But in a bit of refreshing forethought, ZMP doesn’t want its robots to be too convenient because as The Japan Times notes “this could discourage people from going out and interacting with others — a real and worsening problem as rural parts of Japan continue to depopulate.”


Related

Get the Spoon in your inbox

Just enter your email and we’ll take care of the rest:

Find us on some of these other platforms:

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify

Post navigation

Previous Post WoodSpoon’s Soon-to-Launch Service Aims to Bring Home-cooked Food Delivery To NYC
Next Post Cala Raises €1M for its Vegetarian Pasta Making Robot

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get The Spoon in Your Inbox

Subscribe to Our Podcast!

Subscribe in iTunes or listen on Spotify.

Podcast: The CES & Food Tech Live 2021 Review
Just Salad Debuts Meal Kit Brand to Fight Food Waste, Plastic Packaging
Report: Uber Looking to Spin Off Postmates X Delivery Robot Biz
What Does Weber Acquiring June Say About the Smart Oven Market?
RoboEatz Shows Off Ark 03 Autonomous Robotic Meal Making Kiosk

Footer

  • About
  • Sponsor the Spoon
  • The Spoon Events
  • Spoon Plus

© 2016–2021 The Spoon. All rights reserved.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.