Ford pilots last-yard delivery robot

Last-mile delivery is notoriously inefficient. In addition to the burden large volumes of parcels place on delivery chains, customizing drop-off routes between homes, apartment blocks, retail stores and offices can result in lost time, lower energy efficiency and more traffic congestion on busy streets. As package volumes and the popularity of two-day (or faster) shipping have skyrocketed over the last decade, shippers and 3PLs are looking for ways to increase the speed and efficiency of at-home deliveries. In recent years, drones, robots and autonomous vehicles have been hailed as potential solutions because they can be programmed to navigate environments that would otherwise be difficult or time consuming for an average delivery truck driver to reach. To make this pilot more feasible, Digit is designed to fold itself up for easy storage while in the back of a self-driving delivery vehicle.