Self-driving robots have started delivering parcels in certain Moscow neighborhoods after tech giant Yandex NV teamed up with the state-run Russian Post, the companies said yesterday.
Yandex, which operates a raft of services from online search to ride-hailing, has used robots for food delivery in Russia and on some US college campuses in a partnership with GrubHub, but a partnership with the Russian postal service could widen their reach.
Yandex and Russian Post said in a statement that 36 rectangular, suitcase-sized robots would initially deliver from 27 post offices in several districts of the Russian capital as part of a pilot project, with parcel recipients able to select robot delivery using an app.
Photo: Reuters
Users can track the six-wheeled robots as they trundle across town and can access their parcel using a unique verification code.
“Every part of the logistics chain can be automated, and technologies are changing processes at every stage: from the first to the last mile,” Russian Post innovation head Stanislav Chernin said.
Russian Post has more than 38,000 branches across the world’s largest country and handles nearly 109 million parcels each year. The use of robots or drones could be a cost-effective way to offer services in remote or sparsely populated areas.
Britain’s Royal Mail PLC has used a drone to deliver to a Scottish isle, while Japan Post Holdings Co is testing the use of drones and expects them to start delivering mail and packages in 2023.
Separately, Softbank Group Corp is in talks to sell the Paris-based robotics business behind its Pepper android to Germany’s United Robotics Group, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters, scaling back a business it once touted as a growth driver.
The talks are ongoing and plans could change, said two sources familiar with the matter, who declined to be named as they are not permitted to speak to the media.
It is not clear how much the deal would be worth.
United Robotics Group, which is backed by German industrial robot maker Hahn, became the European master distributor for Softbank’s struggling Pepper and Nao robots in October last year.
United Robotics declined to comment, while Softbank has said that it remains committed to the Pepper business.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs. Unlike their mass-produced cousins, the tough garments crafted at the small Momotaro Jeans factory in southwest Japan are designed to be worn for decades, and come with a lifetime repair warranty. On site, Yoshiharu Okamoto gently dips cotton strings into a tub of deep blue liquid, which stains his hands and nails as he repeats the process. The cotton is imported from Zimbabwe, but the natural indigo they use is harvested in Japan —
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
RSS