Small, cute, and environmentally friendly, Kiwibot is improving lives with its affordable and accessible delivery service. We have introduced semi-autonomous electric bots and how they were delivering food to students on the campus during the tough times of the pandemic but now they’re on to bigger things. The first city to connect to their API was San Jose, followed by, Los Angeles who took the opportunity to do delivery tests in their campuses and malls, also joining their API. Now Kiwibot operates in San Jose, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and their newest addition: Miami.

By partnering with John S. And James L. Knight Foundation, Kiwibot has officially expanded its operation to Miami-Dade County, San Jose, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. In each of these cities, up to 10 robots will be deployed with one supervisor monitoring them. This pilot project allows cities to introduce mobility technologies that can revolutionize and serve the public, all the while offering sustainable solutions. Although the delivery service is helping small local businesses, it isn’t only subjected to the food industry, its service can spread to pharmacies and other sectors. Making products more accessible to the locals during the pandemic.

High Tech and Safe

As the winners of the “iF Design Award of 2021,” the Kiwibot design process is inspired by the people and the community. Their new 4.0 series allows them to deliver goods in urban areas using efficient partial-autonomous technology.

On top of being technologically advanced, they also made the process of delivering food as safe and efficient as possible for the customers. The cargo is automatically locked and secured after the restaurant inserts the package inside. When it arrives at its destination, the application sends a notification that allows the customer to “unlock the door” and receive their item, all in a cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable way.

Kiwibot also does city mapping, and plays a role in reducing road congestion. The little bots use the Mobility Data Specifications (MDS) framework and an automated data collection system to gather and store information. This not only helps the robots travel efficiently and safely but the data accumulated on sidewalk conditions, vehicle and pedestrian traffic can eventually be shared with the city authorities, helping cities become safer and more accessible.

Doing Their Part to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Santa Monica, the city that once banned delivery robots, accepted Kiwibot in the nation’s first Zero Emission Delivery Zone (ZEDZ). The city of Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) have partnered up and officially launched ZEDZ, their main mission is to provide a blueprint for cities to adopt zero-emissions delivery zones. They are working hand in hand with the project implementation team to bring benefits to the local community and ensure long-term results.

This is only the start and Kiwibot is already making a positive impact. Kiwibot stated that they have already saved 1,000 grams of CO2 in each delivery they have made so far. “Eighty percent of deliveries in the U.S. are by cars powered by gas, and half of California has been in a drought,” said Chávez Cortés, the CEO and Co-Founder of Kiwibot. “By 2030, deliveries could increase carbon emissions by 30%.” The ultimate goal for them this year is to save 10 million grams of CO2.

“We’re proud to be ground zero for this type of exciting and forward-thinking innovation that will help reduce congestion and carbon emissions — not just in Miami, but cities around the world,” says City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

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