Amazon is pretty good when it comes to logistics, as they are able to deliver products nationwide and around the world, suggesting that they have a very good infrastructure in place. The company has also been exploring a variety of ways of delivery, such as by using drones which can make deliveries by air.
However the company is also exploring ground deliveries and have recently begun testing its Scout delivery robot. This test will involve six Scout robots that will be making deliveries in the neighborhood of Snohomish County, Washington. The robots are said to be capable of navigating themselves, but for the purpose of the test, an Amazon employee will be following them.
In terms of efficiency, the upside to the Scout is that it does not need rest (charging times not included), meaning that it can make as many back-to-back deliveries as long as there is enough juice. While it doesn’t seem to be particularly fast, it could help with last mile deliveries, where maybe a truck and driver could come load packages onto the Scout and dispatch them out to various homes in a neighborhood, versus driving to each and every house.
At the moment it is unclear as to how the Scout will be able to verify who customers say they are to make sure that the deliveries will only open for legit customers. However it is a test which means that if and when it does eventually roll out to the masses, Amazon should have the kinks ironed out by then.
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