Tiny Mile Delivery Robot
TinyMile is a Toronto start-up that builds remotely-controlled food delivery robots. My team and I were asked to design a system that enhances customer experience by addressing the current model’s setbacks, when it came to loading and unloading the food to deliver.
Therefore, the primary function of our design was to autonomously load and unload food (without operator assistance). For the solution to be implementable, it couldn't violate the constraints which focused on safety and cost.
Analysing the service environment
We first conducted observations and research on the environment the robot had to travel through. We concluded that the layout of the crosswalks, pedestrian movements and internet conditions could affect the robot's time to deliver. For instance, ramps, cracks and holes, sewer lids, and rails might all cause the robot to tumble and lose balance.
We therefore tailored our designs to account for such challenges.
Final design
A scissor lift design solution most effectively met all the objectives of the project. The scissor lift’s ability to lift and lower itself quickly while remaining stable made it especially apt for this application. Moreover, the scissor lift does not eliminate the user’s ability to retrieve their items themselves and skip the lifting procedure. This allows for the customer to pick up the food safely anytime.
The design enables the user to automatically initiate loading and unloading procedures at their discretion. This functionality is accomplished using a secure connection to a Webapp and makes it so that the user does not need to physically interact with robot or lower themselves to retrieve their food.
