Ford, best known for its cars, pick-up trucks and SUVs, is experimenting with something totally different: a package-carrying robot.
But the company found it was sometimes inconvenient for people to walk outside their homes and take a package from a self-driving car waiting at the curb. So it partnered with Agility Robotics, an Albany, Oregon-based startup that makes a human-like robot capable of carrying 40-pound packages. Ford declined to say if it plans to run a delivery service or if it expects to make deliveries for partners. Previously, it worked with Domino's to test pizza deliveries in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Customers had to walk to the vehicle and enter a code on a touchpad before a back-seat window would open to reveal the pizza.as part of a cost-cutting effort.