Starship robots target autonomous campus delivery

Starship Technologies, the company behind the UK’s first autonomous delivery trials, is aiming to roll out its robots across academic and corporate campuses in Europe and the US.

Equipped with nine cameras, GPS and a sensor suite, Starship’s six-wheeled robots travel on footpaths at around 4 mph, giving way to pedestrians and tackling kerbs when encountered. The bots are designed to operate within a 2-3 mile radius, mapping their surroundings using proprietary software and gaining more autonomy as they become familiar with their environments. Under normal circumstances, while travelling on pathways, their situational awareness ‘bubble’ extends to about 7-10 metres.

“That increases when (the robot) is crossing the road,” Starship’s marketing VP, Henry Harris-Burland, previously told The Engineer. “It can see up to 200m away, because that’s obviously one of the most dangerous areas of the robot’s journey.”