Nuro's New Autonomous Delivery Bot - Designed for Everyone

Nuro's Latest Autonomous Delivery Vehicle

Nuro publicly demonstrated on Wednesday a crucial component of its plan for commercially viable autonomous delivery services.

Founded in June 2016 by former Google engineers Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, the startup has secured over $2.13 billion in funding. They have now revealed their third-generation electric autonomous delivery vehicle.

A New Generation of Delivery Bots

This vehicle, built in collaboration with BYD North America, is specifically engineered for commercial deployment. Nuro has moved away from the previous alphanumeric naming system (R1 and R2) for this package-focused delivery robot.

The vehicle is simply named “Nuro,” representing a flagship model and a broader introduction of the robot to the public. This designation signifies its position as the company’s primary delivery solution.

It’s important to note that the Nuro bot is designed for road use, not sidewalk delivery. All of Nuro’s previous and current generations are intended to operate on roadways.

Image Credits: Nuro

Enhanced Capabilities and Features

The new “Nuro” bot boasts double the cargo capacity of its predecessor. It also includes adaptable storage configurations and temperature-controlled sections for maintaining item temperature.

This represents a production-grade automotive vehicle, built to withstand the challenges of regular delivery service. This includes exposure to various weather conditions, road imperfections, potential misuse, and extended operational hours.

Prioritizing Safety

The Nuro delivery bot incorporates several safety mechanisms to protect vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. The vehicle utilizes a comprehensive sensor suite, including cameras, radar, lidar, and thermal cameras.

This provides a 360-degree awareness system with built-in redundancy to ensure continued operation even if a single sensor fails.

A key safety feature is an external airbag system, designed to deploy upon impact with a person or object.

Image Credits: Nuro

Evolution of Nuro's Autonomous Delivery Vehicles

The initial phase of testing and limited commercial application by the company involved utilizing adapted Toyota Prius vehicles. These were deployed for both trial runs and pilot grocery delivery programs in the states of Arizona and Texas.

A significant shift occurred in December 2018 with the introduction of the R1. This marked the company’s initial move towards developing a vehicle specifically engineered for package delivery.

Further advancements led to the unveiling of the R2 in February 2020, representing the company’s second-generation autonomous vehicle. The R2 was both designed and assembled within the United States, through a collaborative effort with Roush Enterprises, a Michigan-based firm.

This vehicle incorporated a comprehensive sensor suite, including lidar, radar, and multiple cameras, providing a complete 360-degree awareness of the surrounding environment for its autonomous operation.

Despite its advanced capabilities, the R2 initially lacked certain features mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Following a three-year period of engagement with regulatory bodies, Nuro successfully obtained a driverless exemption from NHTSA for the R2.

This exemption permits operation of the vehicle without traditional components such as side-view mirrors, a windshield, and a forward-facing rear-view camera.

Furthermore, Nuro has secured all required authorizations and permits to launch a fee-based autonomous vehicle delivery service within the state of California.

The latest iteration, simply named “Nuro,” represents the culmination of these efforts and a key milestone in the company’s pursuit of commercial viability, at least in its current form.

Nuro's Expansion: Autonomous Vehicle Production and Testing

While a widespread rollout isn't immediate, Nuro is nearing the point of large-scale deployment of its autonomous vehicles.

The company has successfully secured substantial funding, established pilot programs with prominent companies, and expanded its workforce to over 1,200 employees.

Within a short timeframe of under five years, Nuro has attracted significant investment from both private and institutional sources. These include Greylock Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund, and T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.

A recent $600 million funding round, announced recently, was spearheaded by Tiger Global Management. Additional investors included Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Gaorong Capital, Google, Kroger, SoftBank Vision Fund 1, funds managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Woven Capital.

Strategic Partnerships have been crucial to Nuro’s growth.

The company has forged partnerships with major retailers and delivery services, such as 7-Eleven, CVS pharmacies, Domino’s, FedEx, Kroger grocery stores, and Walmart.

Nuro is now investing some of its capital into a new $40 million facility dedicated to end-of-line manufacturing and a closed-course test track located in southern Nevada.

Furthermore, Nuro is leasing 74 acres at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to create a dedicated testing environment. This will facilitate the development and validation of its autonomous on-road vehicles.

The track will be used to assess bot performance in diverse scenarios, including pedestrian and pet avoidance, safe interaction with cyclists, and comprehensive environmental and system testing.

BYD North America, a key supplier, will handle the assembly of the hardware components. Final assembly and preparation for deployment will occur at Nuro’s new facility.

Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD Co. Ltd. and president of BYD Motors Inc., emphasized the importance of this collaboration. She stated that BYD’s Lancaster facility will be utilized to support Nuro and create additional employment opportunities in California.

Nuro has not disclosed precise production capacity figures. However, the facility is capable of producing and testing “tens of thousands” of delivery vehicles annually.

The company anticipates full operational status for its Nevada facilities within the current year, with construction having commenced in November 2021.

While specific deployment locations remain undisclosed, Nuro has confirmed a formal agreement with Kroger to utilize the new delivery bots.