DPD depot rolls out Raunds robot delivery service as part of expansion to towns and cities

Roving robots will soon be seen on the streets and pavements of Raunds to deliver DPD-couriered goods to residents in the area.

Autonomous robot deliveries are being rolled out to 10 UK towns and cities in the next 12 months following a successful Milton Keynes trial.

Parcel delivery company DPD has confirmed its robot delivery service will launch from Raunds DPD’s Warth Park depot on the western edge of the town.

The robots will deliver to nearby residential areas within a mile of the depot, via the existing network of footpaths.

Tim Jones, director of marketing, communications and sustainability DPDgroup UK said: “The robots have exceeded our expectations, and the feedback has been fantastic. We can see people’s reactions when they meet them, and it is overwhelmingly positive. We set out to understand the role that delivery robots could play in certain locations in the UK and the trial has helped us identify more sites where we could deploy the robots successfully.

“Our aim is to be the UK’s most sustainable delivery company and that means investing in innovations and trying new things.”

In Raunds, the robots will have three separate parcel compartments, instead of just one as in the original trial, and an extended battery life of up to 12 hours.

DPD parcel recipients in Raunds will be notified of a robot delivery in advance, and once they confirm that they are at home to accept the parcel, the robot will be dispatched.

Customers will then be able to track the robot’s progress on a map and are notified when it reaches their property. They then use a code to open the secure compartment and access their parcel. Once the compartment is closed, the robot will either continue to its next delivery or return to the depot.

DPD has been working closely with North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) on the introduction of the robots in Raunds.

Councillor Graham Lawman, NNC’s executive member for highways, travel and assets, said: “We are delighted that DPD is introducing delivery robots in Raunds. The council is committed to the environment and supporting clean and green alternatives to traditional forms of transport to reduce emissions. It is great to be able to help bring this innovation to North Northamptonshire.”

The announcement extends DPD’s relationship with AI-powered robotics and last mile delivery specialists, Cartken and follows work by DPD that identified up to 30 UK depot locations which could potentially deploy robots.

DPD first introduced the Cartken robots in Milton Keynes in July 2022 and they have since travelled almost 500 miles and successfully performed over 2,500 trips delivering parcels to DPD customers.

Cartken’s robots negotiate footpaths with only cameras using a purely vision-based system.

Co-Founder and Cartken COO, Anjali Jindal Naik, added: “Autonomous mobility will be a key lever for decarbonisation, as it transforms last-mile transportation into a much greener process. By partnering with delivery companies, such as DPD, we’re propelling this transformation forward, making sustainable delivery the norm, rather than a ‘nice to have’.”