A new robot will soon join the autonomous delivery fleet operating in certain neighborhoods. Unlike existing delivery bots, DoorDash’s Dotwon’t always take up sidewalk space — sometimes it’ll be zooming down bike lanes or roadways instead.
Dot is a bright red bot that is one-tenth the size of a car.
DoorDash claims its Dot robot is purpose-built for local delivery, and can switch between sidewalks, bike lanes and roads as needed. The robot carries the same load as any other sidewalk-sized delivery vehicle in the fleet, but it travels at up to 20 mph.
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Even if you’re in an area where DoorDash operates robotic deliveries, you won’t necessarily be assigned a bot delivery. DoorDash uses an AI dispatcher to assign your orders to human drivers, drones, robots or bots, based on speed, cost and order size.
The first Dot robot is live now as DoorDash tests it in Phoenix. The early program allows residents to give feedback on the bot’s performance as DoorDash prepares to release the Dot into other markets.
Reservations, restaurant videos are new
DoorDash paired its delivery-bot announcement with numerous app updates.
Among them, users can book restaurant reservations from the DoorDash app with the Going Out feature.
DoorDash will also feature creator videos showcasing new local restaurants, part of a new partnership with Yelp.
AI-powered recommendations built on your existing order history are now offered to San Francisco and Manhattan customers.
And when you order using the app, the new Complement Your Cart feature suggests relevant add-ons that pair well with the items in your cart.
