[A Hackaday article submitted for the "we're hiring" article.]

FAIL!

After some composition work, it looked too much like a press release and didn't fit in with the "look and feel" of Hackaday, so I scrapped it in search of a better project. (Note: Text below is unfinished.)

December 4, 2016 by Peter Walsh

Drone delivery is the next big thing in robotics, especially for "last mile" delivery. Amazon, for example, is developing an airborne drone delivery system to deliver goods directly from a nearby distribution center or truck.

Starship Robots, a ground-based drone delivery system that can carry two shopping bags worth of goods, has completed preliminary testing in a handful of cities in Europe, and will begin testing in American cities sometime this fall.

Ground-based has a lot of advantages over drone-based: it's safer for the public, can carry heavier and bulkier items, and requires less energy than airborne delivery. The robots are semi-autonomous and can can make simple decisions on their own to avoid collisions and navigate around obstacles (such as pets). The device can also call for a human remote operator when it encounters situations it can't handle.

The...

Starchip robots have traveled close to 5,000 miles and encountered over 400,000 people without a single accident. It claimed that during testing, about two-thirds of people ignored the bots entirely, while the rest reacted to them mostly favorably, often by snapping photos. (Note: Clipped from other article, used as "notes" to inform my own writing.)

Check out the video below the break to see the drones in action.

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