Big news for autonomous vehicles on Tuesday from Kroger (grocery delivery) and Uber (testing again in Pittsburgh).
Kroger has started a new step in its move toward more efficient delivery of groceries.
The company announced Tuesday that, in partnership with robotics company Nuro, it is introducing unmanned vehicles to its test market in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Since August, the duo has operated its self-driving Prius fleet, but each had a human operator. In the last several months, the vehicles have completed nearly 1,000 deliveries to the general public.
Kroger now is launching the unmanned R1 vehicle, which has no driver or passengers, just groceries and other goods.
his undated image provided by The Kroger Co. shows an autonomous vehicle called the R1. Nuro and grocery chain Kroger are teaming up to bring unmanned delivery service to customers. The companies said Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018, that Nuro’s unmanned vehicle, the R1, will be added to a fleet of autonomous Prius vehicles that have run self-driving grocery delivery service in Scottsdale, Ariz., with vehicle operators since August. (Andrew Brown/The Kroger Co. via AP)
“Nuro envisions a world without errands, where everything is on-demand and can be delivered affordably. Operating a delivery service using our custom unmanned vehicles is an important first step toward that goal,” Nuro president and co-founder Dave Ferguson said.
Kroger has launched several initiatives in recent years including grocery delivery through Instacart and its grocery pickup option, formerly known as Kroger ClickList. Digital sales increased 60 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2017.
“Kroger customers are looking for new, convenient ways to feed their families and purchase the products they need quickly through services like pickup and delivery,” said Yael Cosset, Kroger’s chief digital officer. “Our autonomous delivery pilot with Nuro over the past few months continues to prove the benefit of the flexible and reliable technology.”
Uber to resume testing in Pittsburgh
In other news, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has approved Uber’s request to resume testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads in the Pittsburgh area.
The approval, effective Monday and lasting for one year, comes about nine months after one of Uber’s autonomous test vehicles hit and killed an Arizona pedestrian. Testing was suspended after March 18 crash in Tempe, Arizona.
Uber can test throughout Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located. Its vehicles must have at least one human backup driver and two if the company plans to go over 25 miles per hour (40 kph), department spokeswoman Erin Waters-Trasatt said.
Uber spokeswoman Sarah Abboud confirmed the approval but declined to say when the testing would resume.
The ride-hailing company had previously said it wanted to resume testing in a Pittsburgh entertainment, shopping, office and residential area called the Strip District, where its automated vehicle operations are located. Speed limits on most roads in the district are no higher than 25 mph, and it has narrow roads, railroad tracks, potholes and numerous pedestrians that present challenges for self-driving vehicles. Uber also has said it would test only during daytime hours and not in inclement weather.
The company filed an application to restart testing back in November, as it issued a lengthy safety report pledging to put two human backup drivers in each vehicle and take a raft of other precautions to make the vehicles safe.
Company officials have acknowledged they have a long way to go to regain public trust after crash that killed Elaine Herzberg, 49, as she crossed a darkened Arizona road outside the lines of a crosswalk.
Police said Uber’s backup driver in the autonomous Volvo SUV in Arizona was streaming the television show “The Voice” on her phone and looking downward before the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board said the autonomous driving system on the Volvo spotted Herzberg about six seconds before hitting her, but did not stop because the system used to automatically apply brakes in potentially dangerous situations had been disabled. A Volvo emergency braking system also had been turned off.
Among the other precautions, San Francisco-based Uber will keep the autonomous vehicle system engaged at all times and will activate Volvo’s automatic emergency braking system as a backup.
In addition, Uber is requiring more technical training and expertise of employees sitting behind the wheel of the vehicles, according to a 70-page safety report the company released last month.
