In recent years, most efforts to develop autonomous vehicles have focused on last-mile delivery, driven by the rapid rise of e-commerce. The goal is to create machines that can deliver food and small packages directly to consumers in an affordable, quick, reliable and safe manner.
Fleets of autonomous delivery robots have been roaming around college campuses and other confined spaces. Now, the battery-powered vehicles are ready to hit the streets and sidewalks of urban areas beyond Silicon Valley and other warm weather locales, which is where many early tests were conducted.