Starship Robots set to replace couriers for Uber Eats
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Photo
With artificial intelligence growing at such an exponential rate, it seemed like only a matter of time before robots started infiltrating traditionally human jobs.
Now, Uber Eats has teamed up with Starship Technologies in a partnership that will see autonomous delivery robots bringing us our takeaways.
The new tech is set to be rolled out across the UK, Europe and the US, but will kick off in Leeds in December.
While it's a new partnership for Uber Eats, Starship has already completed over nine million robot deliveries, and expects to up this in the next few years.
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So, how does it all work? We have *so* many questions.
It's pretty hard to imagine tiny robots running wild on our pavements, clutching brown bags from McDonald's and somehow managing to not get intercepted or hit by a car.
Well, over on the Starship website, they explain how it's possible.
The company explains: "Starship robots are 99% autonomous. They learn with every journey – and they’ve safely completed millions more deliveries than any competitor.
"Our robots deliver hot food, groceries and industrial supplies, using a combination of radars, cameras, sensors and machine learning to identify objects and navigate the world around them."
The robots are equipped with obstacle detection including radars, sensors, networks and 12 cameras which allow them to identify objects and manoeuvre around obstacles.
On pavements, they move at the speed of a pedestrian and have a large capacity to carry bags, as well as an insulated interior for hot and cold food.
They are also securely locked and can only be opened by the recipient. Meanwhile, if anyone tries to tamper or intercept, a loud siren will sound and the robot will be tracked by operators.
According to Starship, the robots should be able to make deliveries in as little as 30 minutes.
“Autonomous delivery is an exciting part of how we see the future of Uber Eats,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s Global Head of Autonomous.
“Together with Starship, we’re bringing this future to life across multiple continents.”
Meanwhile, Starship's co-founder Ahti Heinla added: “Together, we’re building the infrastructure that will define the next generation of urban logistics.
“Uber Eats has built the world’s leading delivery platform, with the widest reach, trusted by millions across 10,000 cities. We bring scalable autonomous technology that works profitably at city scale.”
While the rollout will begin in Leeds, it's expected to expand into Europe in 2026 and the US in 2027.
The robots have already been active in the UK, in Milton Keynes, where they have been working with the Co-op to deliver bags of groceries.