Houston, Texas, USA: Nuro is to test a self-driving delivery vehicle designed without basic human controls such as steering wheels.
The vehicle is Nuro’s second generation of its vehicles, which it is calling R2 and will be tested in Houston, Texas.
The vehicle has an egg-shaped frame and is smaller than most US cars. It has two temperature-controlled compartments for deliveries. Doors raise to gain access to items once a code has been entered by the recipient.
The R2 uses radar, thermal imaging and 360-degree cameras to direct its movement.
Nuro says the R2 will deliver pizza for Domino’s Pizza, groceries from supermarket chain Kroger and goods for Walmart, during its Huston trial. During the testing of its initial R1 design, the firm made deliveries for Kroger in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Nuro was founded by two former Google engineers and it has funding from Japanese firm Softbank. Co-founder Dave Ferguson said the decision was a “milestone for the industry”.
“Moving forward, we must modernize the existing regulations that never envisioned a vehicle without a driver or occupants, and everyone in the industry must work to ensure self-driving technology is tested and deployed in the safest possible vehicles,” he wrote in a blog.
The test required exemption from US Department for Transportation rules on driverless vehicles. General Motors has also requested an exemption to test its self-driving Chevy Bolt.
