Korean food app launches country’s first robot delivery service

A food delivery app in the Republic of Korea launched the country’s first robot delivery service, Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday.

The service was introduced in the Songdo district of Incheon, about 40 kilometres west of Seoul, with plans for nationwide expansion in the future, according to Yogiyo, the food delivery app.

The self-driving delivery robots will operate within a 1.2-kilometre radius of participating restaurants, delivering food to locations such as apartment complexes, universities and office buildings. The robots can only make one delivery per trip, the company explained.

Its delivery robots can travel at a maximum speed of 5.76 km per hour according to related laws and slow down when they sense a person or a structure ahead, or drive on a narrow road. Yogiyo said it has tested the robots’ self-driving capabilities in collaboration with an autonomous robot service provider.

WAM