Alibaba’s new autonomous robot delivers packages at a modest pace
Unlike its car vending machine concept , Alibaba's ideas for robots have been more mundane and mainly confined to warehouses (the same kind that Amazon uses ). But today, the Chinese ecommerce titan introduced a package-delivering 'bot that uses LiDAR to navigate around. The package locker it carries uses facial recognition to ensure it's got the right recipient before popping open its doors. The G Plus, as it's called, is being developed with Chinese company RoboSense. The robotics outfit lends its LiDar technology to the robot, which uses it for the same purpose as self-driving cars: To create a 3D map of its surroundings and avoid obstacles. The G Plus is essentially a delivery locker on wheels, capable of carrying packages and food at a sedate (and pedestrian-friendly) pace, maxing its speed at under ten miles per hour and dropping it to just over...