Can Meituan and Valeo work together to reverse the embarrassing situation of delivery robots?

如今，机器人已成为全球经济发展主流与趋势，正在潜移默化影响各行各业，并为行业带来革命性变革，也为人们的生活方式带来多样性变化。就像在科幻电影里看到的一样，人们对机器人充满了幻想。但关于机器人换人的说法也是甚嚣尘上。

Robots can not only solve repetitive labor and manpower problems, but also help companies improve production efficiency, reduce operating costs, and realize new business models that were unimaginable in the past.

In the view of Song Jian, president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the progress and application of robotics is the most convincing achievement of automatic control in the 20th century and the highest level of automation in the contemporary era. Robotics integrates the development achievements of multiple disciplines and represents the forefront of high-tech development. Its continuous expansion in the application field of human life is causing the international community to re-recognize the role and influence of robotics.

At present, robots have been used in industrial production, logistics, education, family life services and other fields. In the future, they will be widely used in finance, medical care, government affairs and other fields.

Delivery robots are popular in express delivery and takeout, and many giants have entered the market

Logistics, as an infrastructure, has been using robots and couriers to collaborate to alleviate the pressure of last-mile delivery, both at home and abroad, as the number of express delivery orders increases day by day, in order to achieve fast and high-quality delivery services.

Initially, delivery robots mainly relied on high-precision map data + intelligent navigation systems, etc. As the technology matures, companies are now using AI, algorithms and other technologies, combined with autonomous driving related technologies, to develop autonomous driving delivery robots. The following figure (Delivery Robot R&D Companies (Some Countries)) are companies that develop and manufacture robots.

The rise of the delivery robot industry is a new hard-tech product derived from the rapid development of the express delivery and food delivery industries. Therefore, among these 12 companies, except for the five large listed companies Amazon, Alibaba, JD.com, Meituan Dianping, and ThyssenKrupp, the remaining seven are start-ups or new technology companies in the growth stage.

The reason is that the demand for last-mile delivery services is constantly increasing, which has attracted more and more robot entrepreneurs, such as Qinglang Intelligent, Ninebot, Starship Technologies and other companies, who have begun to focus on developing a full range of robots for food delivery, distribution, etc. For example, the Peanut series of robots developed by Qinglang Intelligent include Peanut transport robots, Peanut hotel robots, Cubic delivery robots, etc.

Of course, in addition to the above-mentioned companies, other domestic and foreign companies that have been attracted to join the market include Pinduoduo, Coca-Cola, ZMP, Baidu and many other domestic and foreign companies.

ZMP has tested its food delivery robots in universities and apartment buildings. These robots can navigate in environments such as office buildings, apartments, and universities, and independently bring food to customers via elevators or stairs. Amazon Scout delivery robots have provided door-to-door delivery services for Amazon's Prime customers. Starship Technologies has deployed its small self-driving robots to Purdue University and the University of Pittsburgh to deliver pizza, sushi, coffee and other foods to students.

In China, Alibaba Cainiao, JD.com, Suning, Meituan, etc. have also put their unmanned vehicle series products for delivery into office buildings, residential areas, and university campuses. In addition, Meituan's autonomous delivery platform has also tried unmanned delivery in Beijing and Shenzhen, using unmanned driving equipment to provide automatic food delivery services.

McKinsey predicts that in the next 10 years, 80% of package deliveries will be delivered automatically.

Can Edwards 4U become a turning point for mass production and implementation?

However, due to the immaturity of technology, the implementation of delivery robots has not been smooth. The implementation of delivery robots is mostly concentrated in closed scenes or in the pilot stage. When looking forward to the future, Liu Qiangdong once said, "In five years, robots will deliver goods to you." Judging from the current situation, it will take time for them to be fully implemented.

There are four key technologies in delivery robots, namely computing, vision, voice, and drive. In terms of voice technology, China is similar to developed countries and some developing countries, but in the three fields of computing, vision, and drive, the gaps among regions are quite obvious, especially in Asia and Southeast Asia. This has become the biggest challenge to the development of the robotics industry.

Recently, at the 2020 CES in the United States, automotive parts supplier Valeo showcased its world's first electric driverless delivery prototype, the Valeo Idriva 4U. This driverless delivery vehicle was jointly developed by Valeo and Meituan Dianping, and the concept of autonomous driving is not much different from other companies that develop delivery robots.

Edward 4U

The biggest breakthrough of this unmanned delivery vehicle is that the automation technology and power technology provided in the development of this vehicle meet the standards of the automotive industry and have been put into mass production. In addition, it also uses Valeo Scala, the only laser radar that has been successfully applied to mass-produced vehicles. In other words, the birth of this vehicle will accelerate the technological progress of the entire industry, as well as the mass production and rapid implementation of products, so that it can truly enter the market and enter people's vision like self-driving cars.

For Meituan Dianping, food delivery has always been one of its important sources of income. According to Meituan's financial report, Meituan's businesses are mainly: food delivery, in-store, hotel, and new business. However, in the field of food delivery, as of the end of September 2019, Meituan's food delivery revenue reached more than 110 billion yuan, an increase of 40% compared with the same period in 2018. Although other businesses are also growing, the growth rate is not as high as that of food delivery business.

The cooperation between Valeo and Meituan Dianping is also quite intentional. In addition, on July 4, 2019, Baidu and Suning Logistics jointly announced to accelerate the implementation of autonomous driving technology for logistics, and announced that they would popularize autonomous driving technology for terminal delivery and mass-produce unmanned delivery vehicles in 2020.

In order to accelerate the launch of its products, Starship has earlier reached cooperation with Just Eat, Pronto, Hermes and Metro Group. In addition, it has also reached cooperation with Hermes, Swiss Post and Wolt. In addition to providing services in the United States, Starship is also providing delivery services in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Estonia.

However, when Yiou communicated with an industry insider about the topic of delivery robots, the industry insider said that the implementation of delivery robots, from the current point of view, is not very good at home and abroad due to factors such as technology, core components, transportation, and policies, and almost all operations are carried out in closed scenes. Even large companies such as Amazon, Starship, ZMP, Alibaba, and JD.com are no exception.

At the same time, he said that from another perspective, it can be found that these large companies almost all have a wealth of delivery scenarios, have made great efforts in scene operations, and technology companies are actively exploring. Therefore, indoor delivery robots are most likely to become the first large-scale commercial scenario.

From the above, we can see that delivery robots are emerging in various regions around the world. As long as the key technologies are mature and replicable, both indoor and outdoor delivery robots will be launched into the market on a large scale. In addition, with the continuous changes in policies, delivery robots will bring new changes to society, corporate development, and people's lives in the future.