A fleet of autonomous delivery robots will be rolled out to neighbourhoods across Bedford and Kempston.
The projects comes from a collaboration between Bedford Borough Council and Starship Technologies, in partnership with supermarket chain Co-op.
Some 45,000 residents across 20,000 households around Bedford are expected to receive deliveries from local Co-op stores using Starship’s autonomous fleet.
Read more: Cambridgeshire Co-op pilot sees delivery robots rolled out
Starship has previously overseen autonomous deliveries with Co-op in Milton Keynes, Northampton and Cambridgeshire.
Andrew Curtis, UK operations manager at Starship Technologies, said: “We are extremely excited to be bringing the Starship service to Bedford and Kempston, offering the benefits of on-demand, autonomous grocery delivery to local residents.
“Our robots have been very well received and integrated seamlessly as part of local communities across Milton Keynes, Northampton and Cambourne, and we are confident they will be similarly welcomed in Bedford and Kempston.
“We are thrilled to be working with Bedford Borough Council and Co-op on this and look forward to further collaboration in the near future to roll the service out further.”
The lightweight delivery bots will be powered by zero carbon electricity and do not exceed 4mph (6.4km/h), with Starship claiming that one journey can consume the same energy as boiling a household kettle just once.
Deliveries are intended to take one hour or less, with orders being made through the Starship app.
Users can schedule their delivery, drop a location pin and track their order in real time. The robot can be unlocked via the app once it arrives.
The robots use sensors, AI and machine learning to navigate pavements and computer vision tech to map their surroundings, reportedly to the closest inch.
