A British online grocery store is aiming to launch the nation's first driverless delivery service. Ocado, which launched 17 years ago and makes deliveries from a string of warehouses across the country, has just started testing its first self-driving "CargoPod" truck built by U.K. tech firm Oxbotica. The 10-day trial involves the diminutive delivery vehicle trundling around a small part of London, bringing ordered groceries to the doors of existing customers. Equipped with the usual array of sensors, lasers, and cameras seen on other self-driving vehicles, the electric CargoPod has a top speed of 25 mph and can carry a total weight for 128 kg. It's designed primarily for short journeys or last-mile deliveries in urban or residential areas, taking relatively small orders to customers rather than weekly or monthly supplies.

Together, these sensors detect and visualise everything around the truck, including cars, pedestrians and lamp posts. The system works with Caesium, a cloud-based platform (also developed by Oxbotica) that can manage and coordinate fleets of autonomous vehicles. The company sells a "smart platform" which gives other companies access to its delivery infrastructure -- the technology behind its apps, its warehouses and delivery vehicles. So it's very important for us to keep innovating and to keep doing exciting technology projects, because that will give us a competitive advantage going forward."