Six months ago it was announced that Amazon had taken its delivery robots out of service because they did not meet the wishes of customers. However, that does not mean that Amazon will stop testing and developing robots that can deliver completely autonomously. The webshop is currently testing its robotaxi, the Zoox. It will not deliver packages, but is, as the name suggests, a taxi for transporting people.
Staff as guinea pigs
The first tests with people have been successful, according to Amazon. As guinea pigs – passengers might be a better word – Zoox employees voluntarily took place in the Zoox robotaxi. They were transported by self-driving taxi from one Zoox office to another in Foster City, California this weekend.
The aim is to use the Zoox robotaxi for free personnel transport in the coming period, with the additional advantage that the robotaxi can be further tested and further developed in this way. The vehicle does not have a steering wheel or pedals and is fully developed to participate autonomously in traffic.
Zoox for everyone is the goal
Ultimately, Zoox should become a public commercial taxi service that everyone can use. However, we have not reached that point yet, although the successful test with the robotaxi on public roads is a good and big step in the right direction, according to the CEO of Zoox.
“Putting the vehicle on the road and validating our approach to all the different requirements, including regulations, is a big step and we would not have done it unless we had already looked internally at the prospect of going commercial,” said CEO Aicha Evans.
Photos/Images: Zoox
