Autonomous delivery vehicle company Everide has a new design — and NVIDIA AI is the brains. The company’s engineers swapped out the old six-wheel configuration for a more efficient four-wheel chassis. It can make 180-degree turns almost instantly, park easily on slopes and move quickly without compromising safety.
Everide has been working on autonomous delivery robots since 2019. It started out as part of the autonomous driving wing of Russian tech company Yandex. But the spun-off company sold off its Russian assets and rebranded as Everide after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It’s now owned by Netherlands-based Nebeus Group (formerly Yandex N.V.), which is headquartered in Austin, TX and has been making deals with companies like Uber.
The company’s latest delivery robots have changed one of the few constants from previous versions: They all had six wheels. The new four-wheel robo-buggy uses an “unprecedented chassis design” that eliminates some of the rough spots of older generations. These included excess friction and tire wear caused by excessive braking required for turning, reduced maneuverability, and less precise trajectory execution. Everide says the new model has improved dramatically on all of these counts.
The new vehicle’s wheels are mounted on moveable arms connected to a rotating axle. For turning, each wheel glides on a circular path stabilized by a central arm. “This design allows the wheels to rotate both inward and outward, reducing friction during turning,” the company wrote in its announcement blog post.
The highlight of the new design is the removal of traditional front and rear axles for mechanically linked wheel pairs on each side. Everide says this enables simultaneous turning angle adjustment, allowing for more precise positioning and maneuvering.
The results of the new approach include almost instant 180-degree turns. Everide says it helps it navigate particularly narrow sidewalks, where sudden adjustments may be necessary. Parking on slopes is also more energy efficient: It now sets its wheels in a cross pattern to park without slamming downhill. The tighter controls also helped the company increase its maximum speed. “This means faster deliveries for our customers,” the company wrote. (And, presumably, more profits.)
The new generation of delivery bots not only got a new body, it also got smarter. Powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Orin platform, which is essentially an “AI brain for robots,” the vehicles can now use powerful neural networks like full-size autonomous cars. This lets them process “huge amounts” of sensor data like lidar inputs and camera feeds in real time.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a delivery buggy without a cargo compartment — and that’s been upgraded, too. The new model has a fully detachable storage section, allowing for modular swap-outs for different purposes. Avride says its standard cargo hold is large enough to hold several large pizzas and drinks or several grocery bags. It also added a sliding lid that provides access to only the correct section, helping to avoid delivering orders to the wrong customers. Engineering and design savvy people can read more details about the new robot in Avride’s Medium post.