Mobility tech company Magna International shared its progress in making last-mile delivered robots. The autonomous robot designed for urban environments was released during the International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.
Since March, the company has been piloting the fully autonomous three-wheeled robot in Detroit. It has been transporting pizzas to nearby customers. The pilot program follows two additional mobility programs the contract manufacturer is already exploring. Canadian company Magna International is the largest contract manufacturer in North America and the fourth largest on the planet. It has produced nearly four million vehicles for 10 different OEM customers, including Ford, Rivian, and GM.
The company’s Steyr business in Austria will also be manufacturing Fisker’s upcoming Ocean SUV this fall… unless it somehow moves production to the US in order to qualify for federal tax credits. In addition to manufacturing an arsenal of automotive components for OEMs around the world, Magna develops and builds its own technologies and has dedicated much of its R&D funding toward new advancements in electrification, autonomy, and robotics.
Developments
Earlier this month, the company announced a collaboration with autonomous robotics company Cartken, which has developed an autonomous delivery robot that can navigate sidewalks and travel indoors and out. As the contract manufacturer, Magna will build and scale Cartken’s delivery robot technology. In return, Magna can use Cartken’s robotic platform for other applications.
According to Magna’s latest news, it has been piloting a delivery robot of its own in Detroit to autonomously transport pizza. The data gathered has been beneficial in the company’s development process in expanding autonomy and micro-mobility. During this year’s International Auto Show in Detroit, Magna shared details of its pizza delivery robot pilot program, detailing how the company’s expertise in electrification and autonomy can help create new opportunities in micro-mobility well beyond pizzas.
The novel delivery robot was built entirely by Magna and was launched back in March. The fully autonomous robot has completed hundreds of successful pizza deliveries since, while simultaneously providing Magna vehicle data and customer feedback to fine-tune the entire process. The robot itself is all-electric, purpose-built for deliveries, and can navigate autonomously at speeds up to 20mph using cameras, radar, LiDAR, and other relative hardware.
Combined with delivery software, Magna has achieved a “full-stack” micro-mobility solution for future businesses looking to reduce last-mile delivery costs and carbon emissions. Matteo Del Sorbo, executive vice president, of Magna International and global lead for Magna New Mobility, spoke about the program’s potential. “Expanding into the growing world of new mobility is a key part of our ‘Go Forward’ strategy that takes Magna beyond its existing technical strength in automotive and vehicle systems, and into entirely new markets and business models. The next phase in this pilot program is to apply our learnings to further refine the solution for a broader range of applications and use cases, scale, and unlock innovative new business models.”
