More robots set for Northampton streets as delivery service is extended to busy part of town

More robots - which deliver eggs, milk, bread and more directly to your front door from a Co-op store - are set to be rolled out at another the Barry Road Co-op shop in Northampton from Thursday, February 18.

Chris Conway, head of eCommerce at Co-op, said: “We continue to look for new ways to innovate and expand access to our products and services in order to deliver a truly compelling offer locally.

"The robots have proved to be popular in Northampton, and by offering the home delivery service from our Barry Road store we can further increase availability and choice to meet community shopping needs – delivering quality and value quickly, easily and conveniently is core to Co-op’s approach.”

The robots use a combination of sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning to travel on pavements and navigate around any obstacles.

Computer vision-based navigation helps the robots to map their environment to the nearest inch as customers can watch in real-time on an app while the robot makes its journey to them.

Once the robot arrives, customers receive an alert and can then meet and unlock the robot through the app.

The emission-free robots have been serving the Wootton Fields and Hardingstone communities since the technology was first rolled out in the town back in November.

Members of the public also recently spotted the robots in and around the Duston area, but there has been no confirmation from Co-op or Starship Technologies to say the service will be coming to that part of town.

Residents can access groceries and have them delivered by robot through the Starship Food Delivery app – choosing from a range of more than 1,000 of their favourite food or drink items from the Co-op. The same day convenient delivery service sees robots travelling up to 3 miles from the stores.