Amazon Scouts a New Robotic Delivery System

Amazon announced it will begin testing a new, all-electric, robotic delivery system called Scout in Snohomish County, Washington. Scout is a cooler-sized, six-wheeled robot delivery system that rolls along city sidewalks at walking speeds. Amazon says was designed to safely get packages to customers using autonomous delivery devices.

Amazon says its customers in Snohomish County order just as they normally would, and their Amazon packages will be delivered either by the usual Amazon partner carriers or by Amazon Scout. The test deployment will begin with six Amazon Scout devices, delivering packages Monday through Friday, during daylight hours. The devices will autonomously follow their delivery route but will initially be accompanied by an Amazon employee.

Scout was engineered at Amazon’s research and development lab in Seattle, ensuring the devices can safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path, according to the company.

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said in a statement the county is excited to be partnering with Amazon on the Scout’s evaluation trails. “We are delighted to welcome Amazon Scout into our community. Similar to Amazon, we are always looking for new ways to better deliver service to our residents,” Somers said. “From the latest Amazon innovation to cutting edge technology, Snohomish County is a great place for entrepreneurial creativity.”