Starship Celebrates 10 Years of Robotic Progress
Starship Celebrates 10 Years of Robotic Progress
Wing drone shot down, Amazon kills off Astro
This week’s news is short and sweet, capping off a long holiday weekend. But why just read the news when you can meet the people that make it? Join us this Thursday in Culver City for an industry happy hour, 5 to 7 PM. RSVP now.
Starship Technologies Turns Ten
Today, delivery robotics pioneer Starship Technologies celebrates its 10th anniversary, and what an amazing decade it’s been. Having just finished up helming Skype, founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis saw an opportunity to revolutionize urban deliveries. Since then, the Estonian-borne startup has hit these impressive milestones:
6 million+ deliveries made
13 million+ km (8M+ miles) traveled
2,000+ robots in 100+ locations
$230M raised
Operating 99% autonomously
150,000 road crossings every day
Capable of 18 hours of uninterrupted operations per robot
Florida Man Shoots at Delivery Drone
Nobody said robotics was easy, but drone delivery startups are running into new problems in Florida: gun-toting whack jobs. A resident of suburban Orlando was recently arrested for shooting down a Wing drone, while it was handling a Walmart delivery, hitting the machine as it hovered 75 feet in the air. Sharpshooting jokes aside, the FAA prosecutes shooting at any aircraft as a felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Amazon Kills off Astro for Business
Amazon is ending its Astro for Business security robot, less than a year after its November 2023 launch. The $2,349.99 robot (plus monthly fees) was aimed at SMBs, patrolling warehouses and storefronts after hours, while also hosting the ability to move goods of up to 4.4 pounds on site. Amazon plans to continue supporting the version of Astro geared towards consumers.
PARTNER | Locale Reinvents Food Delivery
Microwave meals have long promised huge time savings but have always been a let down when it comes to quality. Locale is rethinking this and instead of making food in a factory, partners with California's top restaurants to create microwavable versions of their dishes. Meals are produced in restaurants, then packaged in special, airtight packaging so they stay fresh for a full week in a fridge. All meals are $11. They've attracted a lot of buzz, raising $14M from Andreessen Horowitz and serving thousands of busy Bay Area professionals. Turns out their CEO is a fan of this newsletter and agreed to give our subscribers a week of free lunch to try it out.
Go to shoplocale.com and use code: OTTOMATEXLOCALE50 for $50 off.
In Other News
The rise, fall (and rebirth?) of food robotics. Cartken raises $10M. University of Bristol researchers further tactile gripping. MIT and UCSD create Open-TeleVision teleoperations system.