Yandex.Rover Delivery Robot Kicks off operations at Russia’s Tech Hub, Skolkovo
Starting today, our autonomous delivery robot will be navigating the streets of Skolkovo, Russia, in its first deployment outside the Yandex ecosystem. Yandex.Rover will autonomously maneuver obstacles on sidewalks to transport documents and other small parcels for teams at Skolkovo’s administrative offices.
Skolkovo, a major tech town in Russia and one of the first locations where we started testing our self-driving cars, offers an ideal environment to transition Rover from its testing phase to commercial use. The local community embraces technology and together, we can start to re-imagine how delivery robots can integrate into daily life. With the layout of participating offices in Skolkovo, Rover will autonomously navigate several kilometers of public sidewalks as it completes deliveries between offices. On those autonomous trips, Yandex.Rover will meet pedestrians, vehicles, animals, and other obstacles.
Skolkovo administrative employees can use their smartphones to arrange Rover deliveries, similar to the way Yandex employees first tested Yandex.Rover at our Moscow campus. They can set the delivery destination, open and close robot’s storage compartment, and monitor the its movement on a map. There is also a feature to connect users with Yandex engineers for any additional assistance.
After introducing Yandex.Rover less than six months ago, we are pleased to announce its first official launch during a time when contactless mobility resources are especially critical. Yandex.Rover will help essential employees practice social distancing by assigning tasks to Rover such as delivering mail to the local post office.
“We designed Yandex.Rover to help people automate routine delivery of small packages,” says Dmitry Polishchuk, Head of Yandex Self-Driving. “This is our first experience using the robot outside of the Yandex ecosystem, and we are glad that Rover fits seamlessly into Skolkovo’s workflow. In the future, together with the Skolkovo team, we will consider how else our robot can help optimize tasks in the city.”
Konstantin Parshin, Vice President and Executive Director of the IT cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation added, “For the first time in Russia, a robot powered by artificial intelligence is helping optimize deliveries. And this is not an experiment, but an active service. Together with the Self-Driving team at Yandex, our first step is to enhance our own workflow. In the future, we plan to integrate Yandex.Rover with tasks for other members of the Skolkovo ecosystem — startups, large corporations, and, of course, residents.”
We are thrilled that this deployment at Skolkovo will build on our initial testing of Rover. We look forward to expanding with more applications for Yandex.Rover, especially deliveries for online orders of goods, groceries, and meals in addition to enhancing tasks at warehouses or shopping malls.
