Continental has proposed a solution to delivery challenges at this year’s CES 2019. The startup is exhibiting their system of driverless vehicles, called the Continental Urban Mobility Experience (Cube) which act as taxis for delivery robodogs.
The solution allows to overcome the main challenge for delivery robot concepts — the need for the bots to travel long distances between drop-off locations, such as moving across an area of several city blocks.
The robodogs will be transported inside the Cube and then deployed to actually make the delivery. Combining driverless vehicles and delivery robots is a more sustainable way to move goods around.
As driverless vehicles become commonplace, there will be many uses for them in addition to deliveries, according to Ralph Lauxmann, head of Systems & Technology division at Continental. For example, during busy rush hours, the vehicles could be used as taxis for commuters, then outside of these busy times, the same vehicles could be used for deliveries.