A two-wheeled delivery robot designed to tackle tight European streets will take centre stage at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
YAPE, the acronym of Your Autonomous Pony Express, is the first autonomous electric vehicle designed for urban delivery in difficult European streets.
Its maker, Milan–based accelerator e-Novia, will demonstrate the robot and five other of its entrepreneurial ventures during the world-renowned technology event.
“With over 50 million euros accrued and 26 entrepreneurial ventures launched, in just three years e-Novia has become one of the most enterprising and dynamic players in the Italian hi-tech sector,” said chief executive Vincenzo Russi.
“Italy can be a player on a global level, including the production of high-technology.”
Founded in 2012, e-Novia describes itself as an ‘Enterprises Factory’, taking research and intellectual property for new products to market. The Italian group has filed more than 30 international patents for new products and reported growth of 90 per cent from 2016 to 2017.
The company’s YAPE robot has a two-wheeled design which allows it to rotate on the spot and overcome obstacles such as kerbs or tram lines.
Users can summon the robot to their house via an accompanying app, place a package into its package holder, and send to a recipient.
The collection and the delivery of the package are certified by a system of credentials in the sender’s and recipient’s smartphones, allowing the package holder to be opened only by people authorised users.
The products will be demonstrated during CES, which takes place from 8th to the 11th of January.