Virginia preparing to welcome autonomous delivery robots

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With approval from local city councils, autonomous delivery robots will be legal in Virginia starting on July 1, after Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed legislation that will allow the robots to roam sidewalks to deliver things such as groceries, lunch or medicine to the doors of customers.

With the passing of this law, Virginia becomes the first state to pass a law that allows “personal delivery devices” on sidewalks and crosswalks.

“This will benefit those without cars, people with disabilities and get delivery vehicles off the road at the same time,” McAuliffe says through the Virginian Pilot.

“It’s a win-win situation.”

After the legislation was signed, the company that operates these robots, Starship Technologies, praised the state for being open to the idea of this technology.

David Catania, who handles government affairs for Starship Technologies, says that the company wants to be in Virginia “as soon as possible.”

With that in mind, Starship Technologies plans on mapping cities in Virginia soon, and they are currently looking to find commercial partners. In Germany, the Starship robots have been paired with Domino’s Pizza, while in London, the robots have been paired with a food and package delivery service called Postmates.

Officials from Virginia Beach, where the bill was signed, and Norfolk have lobbied for Starship Technologies to start operations in their respective cities, but the launch of service does not have an official timeline.

Virginia Beach-area Del. Ron Villanueva and Sen. Bill DeSteph were the ones to introduce the bill, and according to WAVY.com, the bill was drafted in collaboration with Starship Technologies.

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