Talabat is conducting a pilot test of robots for delivering orders in Dubai's high-rise buildings. The tests are taking place in the A6 commercial building of Dubai Digital Park, located in Dubai Silicon Oasis.
As part of this trial, couriers hand over orders to the QuikBot robot at a designated spot inside the building. The robot then autonomously takes an elevator and delivers the order directly to the customer's door. Order recipients use a one-time password (OTP) to receive the package.
The system is designed to take over the part of the delivery process in multi-story buildings that consumes extra time for couriers, such as entering the building, waiting for the elevator, and moving to the correct floor.
Talabat stated that the goal of this test is to assess how much the system can reduce courier working time and how the technologies of the companies interact in real-world delivery scenarios.
Simonida Subotic, Vice President and Managing Director of Talabat UAE, noted that the pilot will allow the company to test autonomous robots for building access and elevator usage.
The QuikBot system uses its QuikSync platform to provide robots with digital identification and manage their interaction with people and buildings. This company's autonomous delivery platform is already in use in operations in Singapore and the UAE.
Alan Ng, founder and CEO of QuikBot, emphasized that the company views buildings as an important component of autonomous delivery, especially when robots require access to lobbies and elevators.
The companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 7, and the current pilot in Dubai is being used to determine the feasibility of wider implementation of this technology in Talabat's operations.
For the couriers themselves, this model involves handing over the building-related part of the delivery to the robotic system, allowing them to remain available for other orders while the robot completes the final stage of the route.