Amazon debuts robot for small deliveries in the US

Meet Scout, Amazon’s new self-driving device for small package delivery. The device is the size of a small cooler and rolls along sidewalks at a walking pace. The giant e-tailer started using Scout this week to deliver packages in Snohomish County, Washington, with the intention to expand its use to other places in the future.

”We developed Amazon Scout at our research and development lab in Seattle, ensuring the devices can safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path”, said Amazon on its blog, adding that the device is fully electric to “provide even more sustainability” to customer deliveries.

Amazon customers living in the area aren’t guaranteed a visit from the company’s new helper, though. Only six of these robots are in use, so part of the packages will continue to be delivered by Amazon’s partners carriers.

Picture: Amazon newsroom