They look for all the world like a visitor from outer space, or an intergalactic traveller from Star Wars.
But the army of robots working in communities around the UK are being hailed as the future of British doorstep deliveries, and the greenest shop from home option to help save planet Earth.
It costs as little as 99p to bring shopping to your door, making them popular with the elderly, disabled and children; they play ‘Happy Birthday’, Merry Christmas songs and even ‘I love Rock and Roll’.
There are now around 500 Starship robots operating up and down the country, as far afield as Milton Keynes, Leeds and Manchester. The Mirror visited Cambourne Co-op, near Cambridge, to capture a ‘Day in the Life” of the cute mini-workers going to and fro all day.
As the Mirror observes them using a drone and a Gopro camera, they wend their way through housing estates; wait to cross busy roads, often at pelican crossings; steer clear of wheelie bins and passing cyclists; and hilariously, navigate their way through crowds of primary school children making their way home at 3pm, dancing in front of them when they spot the camera on board.
Starship Technologies’ robots are the brainchild of Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, who also co-founded Skype, before it was sold for 2.6 billion dollars in 2005. They have overcome many pitfalls during development, including theft, adverse weather, flooding, snow and vandalism to make millions of deliveries around the world. There are 2,500 worldwide; they are powered by electric batteries, and rely on artificial intelligence and onboard cameras to move around.
Ahti believes the UK will now be at the forefront of the new hi-tech AI drive announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Speaking from his native Estonia, Ahti told the Mirror: “The benefits are so clear that our commercial customers want to expand and sign deals with us. There is no bottleneck there; the British Government has yet to define the rules, and that is holding back the UK. Now there is the AI action plan, it is very broad, covers all industries and we are just one part of it.”
He added: “Our business works; we have all our ducks in a row, we are the solution and most companies are seeing that this is the answer for last minute deliveries. There are 10,000 convenience and grocery stores in the UK, and the average distance between them is half a mile, so this is the easiest, quickest way to do it.”
There is a very loud alarm fitted against theft; they march through deep snow in Finland. A robot can drive a whole day without the need to charge, but they are fully powered again in two hours.
Regular UK ‘robot’ customer, South African-born Cerry Alves, 41, started using them after moving to Cambourne: “I saw them moving around the streets all the time and wondered where they came from,” she said. It was funny because you saw everyone taking pictures of them in the early days. I took one, saw the name of ‘Starship’ on the side and looked them up. They are so easy for me and handy because I work from home.”
Cerry tends to get smaller items, last minute food purchases for evening meals and snacks for work. She can watch the robot make its way via her app, with an alert when it arrives to open the locked lid, again via the app.
“They are so easy for me and handy because I work from home,” she said. “If you are in back to back meetings, you can arrange for a delivery if you have forgotten something for tea or need something small. You are going to laugh but I got one to play Happy Birthday for my son, and it was his 20th birthday. We just thought it would be a funny thing to do, and it was. It is different to using delivery cars or bikes. I have just spent £17 on little items; at times, you do need something to make a meal.”
Casey Graham, 25, a Co-op team leader, believes that the robots will soon be seen across the UK. He told the Mirror: “I would say they are part of this community now. People love them and you see them moving around all the time. They say robots and AI are taking over everything but this is in a good way.”
Ollie Blackburn, 17, shop assistant at the Cambourne Co-op store, recalled their launch last summer. “It was spectacular when it first started as people were captivated by them,” he said. “I remember a group of Chinese tourists who had never seen anything like them, they just kept taking photos.”
The Mirror followed a typical 2km robot ride as the six-wheeled wagon avoided mums with prams on the school run. In the evening, as darkness fell, they put on their lights to ensure they could be seen by pedestrians and motorists. Cats scampered past, and the robots avoided each other as they waited at the curb to cross the road, in a strange dance by the moonlight.
The robots work until 10pm, when the ‘Meals on Six Wheels’ return to a charging point to be powered up overnight. What strikes you is how accustomed customers have become to the sight of the robots arriving at the Co-op to be filled for their deliveries. They now cover 32,000 households in Leeds.
George Hayworth, Head of Online Development, Co-op, said: “Convenience is what we do, our commitment to quick deliveries through our own online shop and partners is a key focus. Our stores go far beyond offering traditional groceries, it’s also where groceries are picked fresh locally for fast home delivery. We want everyone to be able to shop from Co-op, and emerging technology is the way we can make this happen. Deliveries by autonomous robots are well loved in their communities, they also help to cut emissions from short car journeys while forming part of our work to make life easier and more convenient for our members, customers and communities.”
You can get more than one robot coming to your door if you want to order a weekly shop. Co-op worker Ollie, who lives in Papworth, is a fan; he added: “They are very popular now; deliveries are very frequent across our working day. I have an app which has all the details for the deliveries. We just lift the lid on the robot, put the shopping in, press a button and they are ready to go.”
