Robots go the extra mile to deliver restaurant orders

The robots are coming, and they're bringing dinner. Food delivery company Just Eat will begin testing a mostly self-driving robot from Starship Technologies this month, using it to carry orders to customers within a few kilometers of participating restaurants in the U.K. Despite the high-flying name, Starship Technologies has a down-to-earth ambition: Automating local logistics over the "last mile" between retailer and customer, for a cost of around 1 per delivery. It plans to do that with a six-wheeled robot that looks like a cross between a Roomba and an icebox. The robot trundles along at a brisk walking pace, monitoring its environment using an array of cameras. Most of the time, it chooses its own route, avoiding obstacles and people.