Goto

Collaborating Authors

 scout delivery robot


Amazon will no longer publicly test its Scout delivery robots

Engadget

Amazon's Scout robot, a small machine that looks like a cooler and can navigate sidewalks, won't be delivering anybody's packages anymore. The e-commerce giant has shut down field testing for the experimental machine and is "reorienting" the program. According to Bloomberg, the Scout team has been disbanded and most of its 400 members will be offered new positions within the company. Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll told Reuters that the company will not be abandoning the project completely. Only a skeleton crew will remain to consider the use of autonomous robot for deliveries, though, and that could mean that it's the end for the cooler-like Scout.


Amazon is testing its Scout delivery robots in Georgia and Tennessee

Engadget

If you live in Atlanta, Georgia or Franklin, Tennessee, your next Amazon order might arrive in one of the company's Scout delivery robots. Amazon began testing its cooler-sized delivery bots in Snohomish County, Washington last year. They've been making deliveries in the Irvine area of California, and this week they popped up in Atlanta and Franklin. Only a handful of Amazon Scout devices will operate in each city. They'll be accompanied by a human, travel at walking speed and make deliveries Monday through Friday, during daylight hours.