Vayu’s Delivery Robots Deploy AI Foundation Models
Vayu Robotics has launched an on-road delivery robot that that combines AI models with low-cost sensing.
July 25, 2024
At a Glance
- Vayu robots combine a transformer-based mobility foundation model with passive sensor.
- The delivery robots operate autonomously without pre-mapping the roads.
- The Vayu model is designed to offer a cost-effective, safe, reliable delivery system.
There are now nearly five million urban deliver robots are roaming the streets with ecommerce packages. The market for delivery robots is expanding. The market is projected to grow 64% over the next 10 years according to Transforma Insights.
While the number of deliveries is skyrocketing, the cost per delivery remains stubbornly high. In a move to reduce the cost of ecommerce deliveries, Vayu Robotics has announced the release of an on-road delivery robot that combines the power of modern AI foundation models with lidar-less, low-cost passive sensors. Vayu believes this move will lower the cost per delivery.
Traditional mobile robotics rely on costly lidar sensors and software modules built to do one task at a time, leading to expensive hardware and fragile software unable to handle new scenarios. Vayu’s robot was designed to do the opposite. The company has combined a transformer-based mobility foundation model with a powerful passive sensor that, together, eliminate the need for lidar. “Our software is robot form factor agnostic and we have already deployed it across several wheeled form factors,” said Anand Gopalan, CEO of Vayu Robotics. “In the near future, Vayu's software technology will enable the movement of quadrupedal and bipedal robots, allowing us to expand into those markets as well.”
Vayu Robotics founders (L to R) - Mahesh Krishnamurthi, Nitish Srivastava and Anand Gopalan. Image courtesy of Vayu Robotics.
Vayu’s delivery robots operate autonomously without pre-mapping the roads it intends to drive on and is capable of navigating inside stores, on city streets, and unloading packages on driveways or porches, carrying up to 100 lbs. at under 20mph. This model is designed to offer a cost-effective, safe, reliable delivery system. “The unique set of technologies we have developed at Vayu have allowed us to solve problems that have plagued delivery robots over the past decade, and finally create a solution that can actually be deployed at scale and enable the cheap transport of goods everywhere” said Gopalan.
The delivery robot hits the streets
Vayu’s delivery robots have debuted in real-world applications. The company recently signed a commercial agreement with a large ecommerce player to deploy 2500 robots to enable ultra-fast goods delivery. Vayu has additional ecommerce retail customers in the pipeline.
Vayu is also working with a leading global robotics manufacturer to replace lidar sensors with Vayu’s sensing technology for other robotic applications. “At Khosla Ventures, we believe in backing businesses where critical and differentiated technologies can unlock a large market,” said Kanu Gulati, partner at Khosla Ventures. “Vayu is a great example of this where they have deployed novel sensing, and their AI foundation models to a robotic challenge that can have immense economic and societal impact.”
Former Apple engineers are co-founders
Vayu was co-founded by three seasoned veterans from the robotics and mobility industry, Anand Gopalan, former CEO who took the world’s leading lidar supplier Velodyne public in 2020; Mahesh Krishnamurthi, formerly Apple SPG and Lyft; and Nitish Srivastava, from Apple SPG and Geoffrey Hinton’s AI lab at the University of Toronto. Geoffrey Hinton is also an advisor to the company.
After working in major robotics and autonomy software for two decades, the trio realized large volume robotics applications, like robotics delivery, could only be unlocked by inventing a new technology stack that involved lower cost hardware and more robust software. “The unique set of technologies we have developed at Vayu have allowed us to solve problems that have plagued delivery robots over the past decade, said Gopalan. We have finally created a solution that can be deployed at scale and enable the cheap transport of goods everywhere.”
Vayu has previously raised $12.7 million to fuel its mission to remove the hardware and software bottlenecks that have stunted the growth of e-commerce. Looking ahead, Vayu’s founders believe their low-cost robotics nervous system can power a new wave of mobile robots in other use cases, too. “Autonomous delivery robots are only the tip of the iceberg,” said Gopalan.
The Vayu team see this AI-based navigation system as a model that can work in other mobile robot application. The company would like to lead the adoption of real-world robotics across multiple industries. For now, Vayu aims to use its scalable robotics architecture to empower small businesses to deliver products to their customers’ doorstep seamlessly.
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