A fleet of fully autonomous delivery robots that carry food and retail items have debuted at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Passengers can use their mobile devices to order contactless deliveries to their location in the airport’s Concourse B from select retail stores operated by Paradies Lagardère.
Customers receive status updates on their phone and a unique QR code that can be scanned by the robot’s top camera, to open its secure compartment and retrieve their items.
The robots, named Ottobots, are able to navigate autonomously through crowds and unpredictable environments using proprietary Contextual Mobility technology from Ottonomy. The entire system uses a suite of cloud tools to control robots deployed throughout different areas of the airport.
A pilot of the technology started in late 2020, with the partners gathering feedback from participating passengers including details on the experience, cost and the desire to have autonomous deliveries in airports. The live robot deliveries, which debuted for the 2021 holiday season, will provide further data for refining the program and user experience.
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“This launch is a testament to CVG’s commitment to innovation and customer experience,” said Ritukar Vijay, Co-founder and CEO of Ottonomy in a statement. “We are able to provide a safe and secure experience through our Ottobots, executing automated contactless deliveries of food and beverage and retail products. COVID-19 has changed the way we all interact and relate to travel, making contactless delivery even more relevant and essential.”
