Punggol Residents Can Get Parcels & Groceries Delivered by Robot in 1-Year Trial

By
Zhi Hao
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It appears that Punggol residents will soon witness a riveting sight:

Actual robot “couriers” going about, as they deliver goods to designated lift lobbies.

Image: Youtube (The Straits Times)

Well, well, look what we have here.

Wall-E, in real life.

Punggol Residents Can Get Parcels & Groceries Delivered by Robot in 1-Year Trial

According to The Straits Times, a new one-year robot “courier” trial, which aims to reduce the need for manpower and test the viability of such robots at the same time, is set to be launched in Punggol.

The little Wall-E renditions will serve around 700 households, sending parcels, groceries and even medicine to 7 Waterway Woodcress Housing Board blocks.

Consumers can also choose their own delivery timing, as there is no fixed delivery schedule for these hardworking robots.

According to the news report, the two Otsaw robots are available for hire from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

They weigh 80kg each, and have passed TA’s safety assessment.

They also possess a capped walking speed of some 5km/h, and each robot will be supervised by an officer throughout the duration of the trial period.

How To Order?

For parcel delivery, consumers would first have to make an online purchase.

Thereafter, the affiliated goods will be sent to the dispatch hub, and the consumer will be inquired about their choice mode of delivery.

If, say, they happen to pick little Wall-E over here, they will be requested to download a mobile app called Camello – which handles the delivery date and preferred time slot.

The goods will then be stocked in the autonomous mobile robot (AMR).

The delivery will be conducted at the designated timing, and the consumer will be able to know – through the mobile app – when the robot is on its way, and when it’s reaching.

Unfortunately, it appears that the robot does not do house deliveries just yet, so consumers will have to stride to a specific collection point at the HDB block to retrieve their goods.

Retrieval will require either a QR code or a one-time password.

Meanwhile, the grocery delivery process is largely the same, save for the initial part.

Instead of doing things online, the consumer will first have to shop at Fairprice (in this case Fairprice’s outlet at Punggol Oasis Terraces) before leaving the groceries at the mall’s concierge station.

The consumer can either ask the concierge staff for help with a delivery slot, or do it personally via the mobile app.

Once done, they can proceed with their daily activities, leaving the robots with the unenviable task of hauling their 10-20KG packets of rice back home.

Trial

The trial is reportedly directed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), in collaboration with a number of household names including HDB, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, as well as logistics service provider CM Logistics, supermarket chain FairPrice and technology provider Otsaw.

It is hoped to reduce the need for manpower in the future, amidst these tumultuous times.

Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary said: “The use of the autonomous mobile robot, such as this trial, hopefully can give a better customer experience. It can potentially generate new business models, and hopefully it will mean that we can scale up without being dependent on manpower as a limiting step.”

As for the location, Punggol was reportedly chosen because of its relatively young demographic. The infrastructure of the area also allowed for smooth transition on the part of robots.

Robots

For the record, the Otsaw creations are far from being groundbreaking in terms of innovativeness.

According to TODAY, a food-delivery bot was launched in June 2020 to deliver food across the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus.

To date, this little guy has already delivered more than 6,000 meals and carried about S$60,000 worth of goods.

It’s the creation of Whizz Mobility, a start-up made up of seven students from NTU and one from the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Meanwhile, over at Tampines, several techies have been deployed to clean floors and take on other physically taxing chores at Tampines Round Market and Food Centre.

According to a report, 5 robots will be deployed at the market – 2 for floor-cleaning, 1 for false ceiling inspection, 1 for disinfecting lift panels and 1 to map the density of mosquitos.

The false ceiling robot, in particular, will also be utilised to drive pigeons and mynahs away, by transmitting anti-bird sound frequencies.

Should the test prove successful, the robots could be rolled out to other food centres in the future.

It will also potentially usher in a new era…

One that may well see robots take over all the ‘menial’ tasks.

But that’s, as they say, a story for another day.

Feature Image: Youtube (The Straits Times)

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Zhi Hao
Email: [email protected]