Doordash Unveils Dot, Its Autonomous Robot Built To Deliver Your Food

On Tuesday, DoorDash unveiled Dot, a mini robot it built in-house that tin autonomously thrust connected roads, motorcycle lanes, and sidewalks to present nutrient and mini packages astatine speeds up to 20 miles per hour. Dot is designed to look friends and moreover cartoonish — painted agleam red, pinch large LED eyes and a rima that swings unfastened to uncover wherever it holds your nutrient — though I’d reason it’s somewhat creepy.

DoorDash says it’s already testing nan robot pinch early entree partners successful nan Phoenix metropolitan area, and plans to make it disposable to nan region’s 1.6 cardinal residents by nan extremity of 2025.

It mightiness sound overseas for a food-delivery app for illustration DoorDash to compete pinch trillion-dollar companies for illustration Google and Tesla connected autonomous conveyance (AV) technology. In San Francisco, Austin, and cities astir nan country, hailing a robotaxi is already commonplace for galore residents. DoorDash argues that a akin reckoning is coming for nan nutrient transportation space, and that Dot’s size and creation are key.

The stakes are precocious for this little, tiny (terrifying?) robot. Countless startups person flamed retired successful nan AV space, pinch immoderate moreover facing penalties and fines erstwhile their machines caused harm. Robotaxis person besides go a awesome for Silicon Valley’s broader automation push — and a target for nationalist anger. Waymos person been vandalized connected metropolis streets, and it’s easy to ideate Dots becoming nan adjacent awesome of that tension.

DoorDash unveils Dot astatine its San Francisco headquarters. (Credit: Maxwell Zeff)

On Monday astatine nan company’s San Francisco headquarters, DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang told reporters that autonomous transportation successful suburbs and cities could go a ample market. Tang said a cardinal to transportation robots is navigating “the first and past 10 feet,” referring to picking up and dropping disconnected deliveries. Sidewalk robots, specified arsenic those developed by companies for illustration Serve Robotics, reside this situation of negotiating tight spaces, but they can’t thrust connected roads aliases astatine precocious speeds for illustration Dot can.

“You don’t ever request a full-sized car to present a conduit of toothpaste aliases battalion of diapers,” said Tang. “Dot is purpose-built for nan millions of deliveries we facilitate each day. It is mini capable to navigate doorways and driveways, accelerated capable to support nutrient quality, and smart capable to optimize nan champion routes for delivery.”

Dot has 4 wheels and stands little than 5 feet gangly and 3 feet wide. It’s astir a tenth nan size of a car and weighs 350 pounds. Press a fastener connected what tin only beryllium described arsenic Dot’s “mouth,” and capable cargo abstraction is revealed to fresh six pizza boxes aliases up to 30 pounds of food. There are various inserts that merchants tin put wrong of a Dot to meet their needs, including cupholders and coolers.

One of nan inserts wrong Dot’s cargo abstraction (Credit: DoorDash)

There’s besides an LED portion connected apical of nan conveyance to show text, and speakers that tin emit a robotic voice. DoorDash says there’s moreover a microphone connected Dot, which could 1 time beryllium utilized to facilitate AI-powered conversations betwixt customers and Dot.

Each portion runs connected an interchangeable artillery that tin beryllium charged separately. The institution says this was a cardinal creation characteristic to decouple retention and charging of nan vehicles.

For navigation, Dot uses 8 outer cameras, alongside 4 radar and 3 lidar sensors to observe obstacles. DoorDash says nan cameras are hooked up to a real-time AI exemplary that combines heavy learning and hunt based algorithms to find nan champion way to customers.

A fleet of Dots (Credit: DoorDash)

The institution has spent nan past 7 years building toward Dot. Back successful 2019, DoorDash acquired nan AV startup Scotty Labs, and brought connected nan co-founders of different AV mapping startup, Lvl 5. In 2021, nan institution hired Ashu Rege, a erstwhile executive astatine nan Amazon-owned AV institution Zoox, to lead its autonomy division.

In an question and reply pinch TechCrunch, Rege says that DoorDash’s early conversations pinch lawmakers regarding Dot person been positive. He says metropolis and authorities officials person touted mini conveyance transportation arsenic a measurement to trim postulation congestion.

Human transportation workers whitethorn beryllium little enthusiastic. In a property release, DoorDash says humans will still fulfill a immense mostly of their regular orders, while automation will fto immoderate “focus much connected nan high-value orders that require quality judgement and care.”

Another hurdle for Dot is safety. Rege says Dot is trained to beryllium deferential to bicyclists and pedestrians, while being ample capable to beryllium visible to drivers.

If a Dot runs into problem connected nan road, Rege says Dots cannot beryllium remotely operated by humans. DoorDash believes teleoperation isn’t nan correct attack for Dot, and instead, trains it to simply hold and propulsion complete to nan broadside of nan roadworthy (though that’s easier said than done successful immoderate cases). Rege says a section usability will beryllium dispatched to nan Dot’s location successful superior circumstances.

In Phoenix, DoorDash has created an ecosystem to support its mini fleet of Dots: warehouses to shop nan robots, charging stations to capable up their batteries, and section operators to cleanable and rescue them. Rege declined to disclose headcount aliases costs for this ecosystem.

Much for illustration group person vandalized Waymos, it seems apt that group will effort to messiness pinch Dots. DoorDash says it included a camera wrong Dot’s cargo space, partially to guarantee mini humans don’t climb inside. Dot is besides ray capable to beryllium tipped complete by a fewer people, but Rege says section operators tin flip them backmost upright if that ever happens.

While Dot whitethorn look playful, it’s a superior and monolithic undertaking for DoorDash. The institution would surely for illustration to hit Uber and Instacart to marketplace connected autonomous transportation vehicles. Dot could reshape DoorDash’s position successful nan transportation market, but it could besides present a wide array of caller challenges.