Amazon is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to deliver packages to its customers. After introducing flying drones and a program that lets Amazon employees leave orders inside your home, we now have Amazon Scout.
Amazon Scout is an autonomous robot that's powered by a battery and has six wheels for navigating sidewalks at a "walking pace." Scout follows a designated path to your house, and when it arrives, you walk outside, grab your package from a hatch that opens up, and Scout goes on its way.
All of this sounds incredibly cool, but Amazon's not ready to launch Scout into the masses quite yet.
Scout is only being tested in one neighborhood in Snolhomish County, Washington, and even though the robot can technically operate entirely on its own, human Amazon employees will be accompanying it on its routes at first to make sure it can get safely to and from its destination without any problems.
The idea of having a small Amazon robot roll up to my home to deliver packages is a really exciting idea, but there are a lot of logistical nightmares that come with something like this. What will Scout do if it's delivering a package to an apartment complex? What kind of weather can it withstand? Can it only hold one package? What's going to stop random people from destroying/stealing them?
I'm sure those are all things Amazon's already thought of, but with so many ifs existing around a gadget like this, it'll be interesting to see if Amazon expands Scout to other markets following its first round of testing.
What is Amazon Alexa Guard?
Have you listened to this week's Android Central Podcast?
Every week, the Android Central Podcast brings you the latest tech news, analysis and hot takes, with familiar co-hosts and special guests.
- Subscribe in Pocket Casts: Audio
- Subscribe in Spotify: Audio
- Subscribe in iTunes: Audio (opens in new tab)
Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.
