FedEx’s head of transformation, Sriram Krishnasam, said they have removed Roxo, which is part of the delivery service, via email to his employees, Robotics 24/7 reports. Krishnasam announced this decision in the company’s new corporate strategy called Drive.
Krishnasam: Roxo failed to live up to expectations
Emphasizing that Roxo’s values serve a purpose, Sriram Krishnasam said in a statement, “While robot technologies are the pillars of our automation and innovation strategies, Roxo has failed to meet the short-term requirements for Drive.”
Roxo was established in 2019 as a result of a partnership with DEKA. This robot is iBot, a motorized wheelchair with stair climbing capability. The Roxo is available at 10 mph and 100 lb (45 kg) cargo handling speed. This battery-powered robot has a range of 8 miles.
Roxo takes the sidewalks at the customer’s door to deliver the cargo. It is also designed to navigate between roadsides, pedestrians and parked cars. It combines a 360-degree lidar sensor with 360-degree long-range cameras on its round shell. Around the base are 180-degree stereo cameras and a 360-degree radar sensor. It also has a screen that can forward messages in front of it.
FedEx’s stair-climbing delivery robots!
In these days when robots are more and more involved in our daily lives, FedEx has announced that it is producing delivery robots that can climb stairs!
FedEx has been testing Roxo in the US in Tennessee, New Hampshire and Texas, and even as far away as the United Arab Emirates and Japan.
The Roxo isn’t the only delivery bot to fail in testing, either. Seattle-based e-commerce retailer like FedEx launched Scout on Amazon in 2019. Amazon is also shrinking its Scout delivery bot program, which makes LMD (last mile deliveries) in cities outside of Seattle and in Southern California, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Roxo isn’t FedEx’s only venture into technology. It is also running trials of drone deliveries with an Alphabet company called Wing in the town of Christiansburg, Virginia.
What do you think about this subject? Don’t forget to share your views with us in the comments!