Ford wants to replace your UPS driver with a robot

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Ahh, CES 2020 wouldn’t be complete without some crazy robot stories. Ford wants to use humanoid robots to deliver packages, paired with fully autonomous delivery vehicles so no humans are in the last mile of delivery.

Oh, and the robots (which come from Agility Robotics) don’t have a head… Creepy.

Ford wants to make fully autonomous delivery vehicles with accompanying robo-delivery people

Ford is one of the first customers of Digit, the bipedal robot from Agility Robotics. The automaker has purchased two so far, which have been customized to Ford’s needs over a period of several months. The robot recharges while folded into the delivery vehicle, and it also works out the best way to the customer’s door by using the mapping data created by the autonomous car. Nifty.

• Called Digit, the bipedal (that’s two-legged) robot comes from Agility Robotics
• It’s designed to fold up in the back of the vehicle, jump out of the trunk when needed, and walk to your door with packages of up to 40lbs
• Ford wants to pair the robots with self-driving delivery vans, taking people out of the last-mile equation completely
• The automaker is committed to a 2021 date for commercial operations
• A pilot program with Domino’s pizza in Miami is already delivering pizza via autonomous cars

With only one year left to go before its self-imposed deadline, will we see legions of headless robots walking the streets, delivering our millions of Amazon Prime packages? I guess it’s not long to wait to find out…

What do you think? Would you like to see more automated delivery methods? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.