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Vayu Robotics introduces “The One,” an autonomous delivery robot that follows staff in stores and navigates city streets at 20 mph, utilizing innovative AI and low-cost vision systems.
Key Points
- Vayu Robotics launches “The One,” an autonomous delivery robot with advanced AI and low-cost vision systems.
- The robot can navigate city streets at speeds up to 20 mph and follow staff in stores.
- “The One” uses Vayu Sense technology, eliminating the need for LiDAR sensors.
- Initial deployment includes 2,500 robots in San Ramon, California, with expansion plans.
- The robot aims to enhance delivery efficiency for e-commerce giants and other commercial users.
Vayu Robotics has unveiled its first delivery robot, named “The One,” which is set to revolutionize autonomous delivery systems. The robot, capable of following staff around stores to load up customer orders, can autonomously navigate city streets at speeds of up to 20 mph to deliver goods. Commercial deployment of “The One” has already begun.
Unlike other delivery robots that rely on pre-mapped routes and expensive sensor suites, Vayu Robotics’ autonomous bot uses a new low-cost vision system combined with AI training to navigate without pre-mapping. This innovative approach sets it apart from solutions offered by major companies like Amazon, FedEx, Walmart, and Uber Eats.
Founded in 2021, Vayu Robotics brings together engineers, technologists, and business leaders with extensive experience in automotive sensing, autonomous vehicles, and robotics technology. The team launched a newly developed camera sensor in 2022, aimed at allowing its autonomous delivery bots to operate without LiDAR sensors. The Vayu Sense technology combines dense, low-cost CMOS image sensors with advanced computational imaging and machine learning techniques, providing a cost-effective high-resolution robotic vision system with superior depth perception and object detection capabilities.
In addition to the Vayu Sense technology, the company introduced the Vayu Drive, a proprietary AI model for robotics autonomy. This model is trained using both simulated and real-world data, negating the need for HD maps, localization technology, or LiDAR. Vayu Drive processes multimodal inputs, including image tokens from cameras, instruction tokens, and route tokens, allowing it to navigate efficiently.
The One stands 3.3 feet tall, 5.9 feet in length, and 2.2 feet in width, making it a compact yet powerful delivery solution. It can navigate roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, and stores, reaching customers at speeds of up to 20 mph. With a maximum per-charge range of 60 to 70 miles, The One is equipped to handle significant delivery demands. The robot can carry up to 100 pounds of goods, with potential upgrades increasing its capacity to 200 pounds.
The robot is currently being tested by a large, unnamed e-commerce player planning to deploy 2,500 units in San Ramon, California, before expanding to other U.S. cities. Other commercial customers are expected to join the program, and Vayu Robotics is exploring additional applications for its technologies. The company is collaborating with a leading global robotics manufacturer to replace LiDAR sensors with Vayu sensing technology.
Anand Gopalan, co-founder of Vayu Robotics, revealed that their software is robot form factor agnostic and has already been deployed across several wheeled form factors. In the future, Vayu’s technology will enable the movement of quadrupedal and bipedal robots, allowing the company to expand into new markets.
This innovative robot aims to enhance delivery efficiency for e-commerce giants and other commercial users, making it a significant development in the field of autonomous delivery systems. Vayu Robotics’ approach to using AI and low-cost vision systems could potentially set new standards in the industry, offering a cost-effective and efficient solution for the growing demand for autonomous delivery services.
