ORLANDO, Fla. — In what may be the most futuristic bill to ever cross his desk, Gov. Rick Scott signed off on a new law that allows robots to deliver packages in Florida.
For London-based company Starship Technologies, it's a big opportunity for their little bots.
"What we believe is that human time should not be wasted carrying groceries," said Allan Martinson.
The robots weigh 80 pounds and are designed to bring groceries or shopping bags to homes.
With the new law on the books, the company plans to being a test run to the state by the end of the year.
“We believe we will be ready to start initial testing later this year, probably two, three or four months' time, and roll out in 2018,” said Martinson.
The law required the bots to travel less than 10 miles an hour, stick to sidewalks or crosswalks, and even though they are autonomous and use cameras to move around, they must have a human operator nearby.
WATCH: See the robots in action
The operator, though, can oversee dozens of the bots from a control center, allowing them to distribute robots all over all the time.
The company said the bots come with GPS and alarms, so the bot and the packages inside are safe from theft.
Starship Technologies lobbied hard for permission to operate in Florida, and they said Orlando might be a perfect city to start.
“Orlando is definitely on our radar,” said Martinson. “There is a pretty good layout of streets and good climate. So definitely Orlando is in our stream.”
The robots would be located near large clusters of restaurants or grocery stores to speed up delivery time.
The new Florida law also limits the size of delivery robots, to weighing no more than 80 pounds.
Cox Media Group
