Japan Tests Driverless Package Deliveries

Japan’s Yamato Transport Co. Ltd. has launched a one-year test using a trio of self-driving minivans to deliver parcels to customers at the time and location of their choice, The Nikkei reports.

One test involves robotic deliveries of orders made online for items from grocery stores, supermarkets and confectionaries. The second aims to reduce the need for repeated attempts to deliver parcels when no one is home.

The two so-called Roboneko services are being tested in Fujisawa, a seaside town near Tokyo. Customers can specify a delivery time within a 10-minute window. They also can choose where they want their package delivered.

The test vehicles are equipped with eight lockers (two of them refrigerated) that are accessed by customers using a smartphone and Roboneko app. There’s no charge for deliveries of items costing more than 3,000 yen ($27).

The delivery vehicles have a backup driver on board who can take control of the minivan if necessary. But The Nikkei says Yamato hopes eventually to switch to completely automatic vehicles.