DoorDash unveils Dot, an autonomous delivery robot for local merchants

DoorDash is starting the commercial rollout of an autonomous delivery robot, Dot, in Phoenix, Arizona. Dot is compact, drives autonomously on bike paths, roads, and sidewalks, and is specifically designed for local commerce.

Compact and fast

“You don’t always need a full-size car to deliver a tube of toothpaste or a pack of diapers. That’s the insight behind Dot,” says Stanley Tang, co-founder and head of DoorDash Labs. The robot is intended for short neighborhood deliveries and is fully electric, with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and emissions.

Dot is about one-tenth the size of a car and reaches speeds of up to 20 mph (32 kilometers per hour). This makes the robot small enough to navigate doorways and driveways, yet fast enough to maintain food quality. DoorDash is launching an early access program in Tempe and Mesa, Arizona, and rolling out Dot in the wider Phoenix region. Expansion into several new markets will follow afterwards.

“With more than ten billion deliveries under our belt, we’ve learned what works, what doesn’t work, and what scales,” Ashu Rege, VP and Head of Autonomy at DoorDash Labs, told Retail Tech Innovation Hub. “Making autonomous technology work for delivery requires reinventing from the ground up. We built Dot and our autonomous delivery platform with advanced AI and robotics specifically designed for the complexity of local commerce.”