I don’t know if you’ve keeping track of the technology news lately, but the latest thing to show up in my neighbourhood is grocery delivery by robot! I feels more like the sort of thing you’d get in Tokyo than north Leeds, but there you go.
They’ve already been trialled in a few different places around the country – Leeds is just the latest.
I haven’t actually seen any in the flesh (so to speak), because I live a few miles outside the delivery area, but I’ve seen plenty of pictures and videos of them. They can get around pretty well on their own, using crossings and asking for help from passers-by if they need to.
They’re run by a company called Starship, working with the Co-op, and the idea is to reduce the number of short journeys made by car or van. Of course, the little robots need to be powered, but they only need relatively small batteries because they’re small and light. I’m not sure how I feel about them. They’re cute, and a nice little gimmick – but they’re only really any good for delivering one bag of shopping. So if you need bread, milk and a paper it might be handy, but they can’t bring you a full weekly shop.
So the jury’s out – but if you see a little white box on wheels trundling around your town sometime soon, you’ll know what it is!
Last posting dates for Christmas
While I’ve got you, I just thought I’d share the Royal Mail’s last posting advice for Christmas deliveries. I’m afraid it’s a bit bleak this year with all the strikes. The last posting date for second class is actually today, but you’ve got until the end of the week for first class.
It’s almost a week earlier than usual:
Monday 12 December: 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For, Royal Mail 48®
Friday 16 December: 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, Royal Mail 24®, Royal Mail Tracked 48®
Monday 19 December: Royal Mail Tracked 24®
Wednesday 21 December: Special Delivery Guaranteed®
Well – that’s it from me this week