The future is coming to your doorstep, with groceries.
First delivery, then Amazon drones, now self-driving cars. The future is here with a new line of autonomous delivery vehicles set to hit the streets of Houston. [Featured image: @nuroteam]
Personally, I like going to the grocery store. Sunday afternoon, strolling through the aisles, filling my cart with items (selected by hunger rather than necessity), and snatching all the free samples I can get my hands on. But for many of us, the commute, the lines, the time — is all too much to spend at the supermarket. Those will elate to know that they will soon have the ability to get their goods for the week via a click of a button.
After a brief roll-out in Houston and a successful, seven-month trial run in Arizona, the San-Francisco-based company Nuro was recently granted federal approval to deploy their new line of self-driving delivery cars in Houston. While other grocers are investing in similar technology, the human-less vehicles will only be available for Kroger and Walmart.
The electric vehicles, dubbed R2 — presumably a reference to the robot sidekick in Star Wars — are Toyota Priuses with 360-degree cameras, radars, and sensors. They top out at 25 mph and obey all traffic laws– just like the rest of us, right?
After you submit your order, the vehicles will collect your goods from the store. Once completed, the machines will meet you on your curb after sending a text message prior to their arrival.
Nuro has yet to release details about pricing or an official roll-out date.
Is it the time to embrace the robot reckoning? Depends on how badly you want that Digiorno pizza.