Ford's Headless Delivery Boys Are Coming To Your Neighborhood In Just 1.5 Years
Or so they hope!
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas where I think it will be awhile before we see these things here.
The problem
With the increase in online sales the biggest problem for Amazon and major retailers is the huge volume of deliveries needed and how to execute them. Last year alone Amazon spent 27 Billion dollars on delivering packages!
Ford to the rescue!
So Ford says they have the answer. By 2021 they plan on unleashing not only their fleets of autonomous(for you rednecks out there that mean driverless)vehicles but also their robot delivery boys. lol.
They can save a bloody fortune by cutting out human delivery drivers.
Here's a picture of this thing, it's pretty dorky looking:
And here's a short video of the gimpy thing in action:
Mr. Gimpy there is really awkward and slow as molasses. The delivery van pulls up, the back hatch opens, and an arm sticks out with Gimpy on the end of it and he lowers his legs and is ready to pick up the package.
It'll be interesting to see how this system works. My first question is what about the North half of the U.S. in the winter time? There's no way Mr. Gimpy can stand on ice and walk in deep snow.
No way this works in winter
In every Northern city I've lived in there are almost no passable sidewalks anywhere in the city once you get into winter. People are forced to walk in the street.
So Gimpy would be unusable for months. Plus in most areas, that I've been in anyway, kids would knock it over or kidnap it just for the fun of it. Can you imagine going into the inner city with this? lol.
They'll have to keep innovatin
And what about apartment buildings? Gimpy doesn't open doors. Plus many buildings have a buzzer to allow someone in.
I'm sure they'll eventually get there but right now it looks like they'll be very limited by weather and what kind of building the delivery is going to. I'm sure you guys can think of even more obstacles.
But they claim they're starting in just 1.5 years so we'll see. I'm shocked that it's starting so soon.
Domino's wants to eliminate drivers too
And have you seen Domino's Pizza delivery vehicle? That's even more ludicrous.
The thing crawls along real slow and it's small. Way too easy for people to just toss it in the back of a pickup or a van. lol. I think they'll have alot of pizzas that never show up.
At least they're starting this out in Holland and Germany so it might work over there. In most areas of the United States, I'm sorry but I think many people seeing this thing would just think "Yay! Free pizza!"
Not in Redneck Country
Domino's is already using drones to deliver pizzas in New Zealand so that's pretty cool. I don't think that would work in my part of the country over here though.
In my neighborhood, I guarantee you that people would shoot down drones if they saw them flying over their property. We take our privacy seriously!
Thanks for reading folks!
-jonboy
Texas
the gentleman redneck
PS- Everyday I've been posting a photo which supposedly represents each state, this is from a ridiculous but fun article I found on www.livingmgz.com.
Today's state is the great state of Idaho! I can't recall any Steemians from Idaho, are there any?
Anyway, I also can't think of an iconic feature that would fit here (except a big potato?)although the state is loaded with fantastic natural beauty which would be perfect to show.
The writers of the article couldn't think of anything either and neither could the state highway department:
lol! God bless you all!
Just wondering when the robot harassment suites will start
lol! I'm sure in this country they'll start as soon as the deliveries are started! Canadians might be more tolerant.
That is ridiculous! I can think of many problems with this, many of which you already listed! Hey, there are some pros to living up north! I take our privacy seriously too. Just today, we had an employee from the local water shed committee come right on through our yard with his tractor and mower to mow roadsides. Man was I ever ticked!! I told my father-in-law, who goes to their meetings, to make the situation known.
Howdy hebrewhousewife! Good to hear from you! How have you been? Are you posting again? Last time I checked it had been awhile and then I haven't seen your name so I guess I kinda forgot about you. lol..sorry, that's not by choice.
You guys might have to put up a gate although that would be a hassle with so many coming and going. We're going to put up a massive steel gate at our driveway.
Hello! Been quite busy around here, but what else is new? Just started again. How long will it last. Knowing me, we’ll just have to see. So no hard feelings.
I told him we should put up a gate or something along those lines. I can’t believe how little privacy we seem to have here. There’s a reason I wanted to live in the country! Are you really? Have you had some bad experiences go on?
Howdy today hebrewhousewife! I'll get over to your blog today. You guys have little privacy because people can just drive into your driveway, is that what you mean?
Well we have a private driveway off the county road and it's a general rule in Texas that you never go down a private drive or else you might get shot. lol. But still people do it sometimes if they're lost or have the wrong address and we want it for security puposes too.
Neighbors around here have had things stolen from their yard. Plus the guy just beyond our place on the county road is a drug dealer with people coming and going all night starting at around midnight so we want a big gate in case they think our place is the drug house!
It seems like it. Between the water shed employees just driving on through our yard to get to the ditches and the county employees driving in our driveway to clean up snow, it drives me crazy. I wonder if they do that to other’s or if it’s just us.
If only that was a known thing here. If I were to even stand in my driveway with a gun while some stranger drove in, I’d be the one in trouble.
Yikes!! I’d put up a gate too!!
Howdy today hebrewhousewife! I bet the county employees do that to everyone's property. They wouldn't be happy with a gate but it would give you some peace of mind that not everyone could just drive right up to your house!
Howdy Sir @janton, ever heard of a robot being hi-jacked?
Or thieves just ripping the box away and taking off?
This will never work over here my friend.
Blessings!
Wouldn’t fly here either.
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I don't know how it will ever work over hear either, people would have a field day with this pitiful robot! lol. But the trial runs will be interesting to watch.
Nah, don’t see that model going anywhere.
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Howdy coquiunlimited! how are you? Are you posting again? How is life there? They should make Gimpy there a governor, he couldn't do a worse job, no head..it wouldn't matter! lol. The last I heard no one was there to take the governor's place when he steps down. Maybe they should let you run the place for awhile.
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I think here in Texas those things would be used frequently for target practice.
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Howdy sir clifun! Where you at in Texas? I agree, it would be great sport! Plus fee pizza, or what was left of it. lol.
Don't try to rob him. He may not have a head, but he knows Robot-Fu! Unless they speed him up a bit, Robot-Fu might be more like fighting off a sloth.
I can see coming home to find him frozen mid-step in the yard, car standing by in the drive, because he ran out of battery.
lol! Exactly, in the sub-freezing temperatures of MN? lol. I think they'll have to skip MN in the winter time for awhile until technology catches up.
I guess it is only a matter of time before this becomes a reality. As it is, the robots are slowly taking over a lot of the manual jobs.
yes sir very true sir Vincent..come to think of it, Singapore is one of the few places where these gimpy robots would work. over here people would shoot, knock them down, kidnap them and steal all the packages just for the fun of it!
Savages! 😎
lol! Maybe just a little uncivilized. ha! Of course, that is in just half the country. They could deliver safely in the other half. I think! But these are like a temptation to people! In Singapore they would work beautifully.
Hi, @janton!
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For being a redneck, you made some good points @janton. For Dominoes, they would not only be giving away free pizza for would-be robbers and the delivery vehicle would be stolen too; just like cars get stolen but this would be so much easier. I laughed so hard when you said that you all would be shooting down drones. LOL!
lol! yeah, not only would we enjoy the target practice, hopefully there would be enough pizza left to eat!
But as far as the silly little gimpy robots, that's a joke here in most parts of the U.S. It would be nice if we didn't have any crime but those things would tempt even halfway law abiding citizens. I mean those things scream "Come knock me down and take my package!" The automonous van would show back up without Gimpy and no packages. lol.
HaHa! You are a trip @janton! LOL!
Thank you Butterfly! You wouldn't be tempted to mess with little Gimpy would you?