Soon in Austin, Texas, small shipments will be delivered by these robots

Autonomous delivery company Avride has unveiled a new four-wheel delivery robot with enhanced efficiency and maneuverability for urban use. The new four-wheel design solves the inherent inefficiency of the previous six-wheel model, which offered great stability but consumed a lot more energy due to wheel drag. The new robot has four pivoting axles that allow wheels to rotate inward and outward, significantly reducing turning friction and allowing the autonomous cart to turn 180 degrees almost instantly. Avride has also updated the robots' hardware with Nvidia's Jetson Orin platform. The Nvidia system allows the carts to run complex neural networks comparable to those in autonomous cars. The computational power is needed to process real-time data from the lidar sensors and the robot's cameras, supporting up to 13 hours of continuous operation.

Beyond technical improvements, the new Avride robots feature an animated Led front panel displaying eye expressions, designed to make the autonomous carts more approachable during their urban strolls. The cargo compartment has also been updated with a modular design, allowing multiple delivery types, from food to groceries, with separate sections for multi-order deliveries. Production of the robots has started in Taiwan, and the autonomous carts will soon debut in Austin's Mueller neighborhood, where the company's previous models have been operating since 2023, mostly delivering restaurant orders.