Recently, in a new urban area in Hanoi, an AI-based delivery robot was moving on the road at pre-programmed speed. It was delivering goods with an already-programmed itinerary.

Unmanned vehicles are still a new issue in Vietnam. A self-propelled robot with artificial intelligence (AI) technology created by a startup has surprised many people.

In Vietnam, FPT, Phenikaa-X and VinFast are the few names in the field of unmanned vehicles. They have had initial experiments, laying down the foundation for the market. However, what they have done is just research.

Recently, FPT created a self-driven electric vehicle and experimented with it in Ecopark. However, FPT doesn’t make unmanned vehicles like Google and Tesla, but focuses on driving software, said Hoang Nam Tien, president of FPT Telecom, in an interview with VietNamNet.

Unmanned delivery robots, a project developed by Nguyen Tuan Anh and his coworkers, is the first of its kind in Vietnam.

Many large tech firms like Amazon and Alibaba have begun piloting the delivery of goods with self-driven robots.

Anh, the co-founder and CEO of Alpha Asimov Robotics, said the idea of developing the robot came during the days of the pandemic. During the lockdown, when people were restricted from going out and tried to avoid direct contact, delivery robots were the most effective tool to support the goods delivery process.

This prompted Anh, who studied programming and had experience from years of working at Grab, to think of a technological product, a robot that could deliver products. He believes that such delivery robots will be a trend in the future.

Alpha Asimov Robotics came in September 2021 and the company was officially established in November.

Statista estimated that the global Last-Mile Delivery market may have the value of $200 billion by 2027, while the market of delivering goods with self-propelled robots would have the value of $41 billion.

Vietnam’s situation

According to Anh, in Vietnam, the Last-Mile Delivery service fee is very high, which accounts for up to 53 percent of total transport costs. 

In order to deliver a food item, one motorbike and driver are needed, with a total weight of 150 kilograms and a lot of energy. Meanwhile, if using a delivery robot, the total weight is just 50 kilograms, and the cost for delivery energy is much lower. 

In other words, to increase the efficiency and reduce the delivery costs, the best way is using robots.

Businessmen complain that the cost of transporting cargo from China to the warehouse in Vietnam is even lower than the cost of transporting cargo from the warehouse to receivers. It is consumers who have to pay the costs.

Automation and increased efficiency at this stage will help save big money for end users.

The robot developed by Anh and his coworkers has a weight of 50 kilograms, moves at the speed equal to the speed of a bicycle, 15-25 kilometers per hour. Like a self-propelled car, the robot is also equipped with camera, sensor and GPS technology. Thanks to the application of motion recognition technology, the robot can automatically adjust its speed and avoid collisions.

Like other delivery services, after users place orders and request transportation service, suppliers will begin the delivery process after defining customers’ positions. The robot will automatically find the way to reach customers to deliver goods to them.

At present, the robot can be self-propelled by 95 percent, which means it can handle the situation itself, while the remaining 5 percent will be handled by workers in the laboratory.

Alpha Asimov is being tested in some urban areas in Hanoi, including Ecopark, VinUni and Phenikaa.

To take advantage of technological support, Alpha Asimov cooperates with Phenikaa-X. The co-founder of Alpha Asimov is Le Anh Son and Phenikaa-X.

Duy Anh