Washington (AFP)

To avoid lowering the curtain or putting too many delivery people at risk, the American grocery store Broad Branch Market called on a delivery robot, whose services are increasingly sought after during these pandemic times.

The little cooler-like machine scampers through the streets of Washington. He stops at a sidewalk enough time to let a car pass ... and resumes his way to the home of the Williams family, three blocks away.

He is greeted and unlocked by Jake Williams, 39, who takes out bags of fruit, a loaf of bread and pizza.

"We can't go to the stores anymore," says Jake Williams to explain this somewhat futuristic scene. "And it's fun for her," he says, pointing to Emilia, his 3-year-old daughter.

Faced with consumers anxious to stay at home and the danger of exposing delivery people to the coronavirus, the company Starship Technologies, based in San Francisco, saw the demand for its delivery robots increasing in dozens of cities around the world.

The company, created by two founders of Skype, began working with Broad Branch Market in April to support the store, which was too small to properly apply the social distancing measures imposed by local authorities.

Each day, a back and forth of ten robots ensures half of the grocery deliveries, explains its manager Tracy Stannard.

"It's cute to see them wandering around the neighborhood, and that makes people happy," she says.

- Security -

Robot shipments from Starship and other companies in the industry only respond to a tiny fraction of food deliveries, but highlight a need in an age of social distancing and fears of the spread of a pandemic.

More than 40 grocery store workers in the United States have died from the virus, according to a Washington Post count. And all over the country, delivery people have organized demonstrations to demand better security conditions.

"The demand for contactless deliveries has grown exponentially in recent weeks," said Ryan Tuohy, vice president of Starship.

Its machines move at an average speed of six kilometers per hour and can carry around three shopping bags.

A handful of other companies have jumped on the case.

With its autonomous robot R2, which goes up to 40 kilometers an hour and can transport some 190 kilos, the start-up Nuro recently started to deliver food products in the Houston region in partnership with the giant of the Kroger diet.

The Silicon Valley company has also received approval to operate on California highways.

- "One less move" -

"We did not anticipate that our service would help protect Americans from contagion. But the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the public's need for contactless delivery services," said David Estrada of Nuro in a post. blog.

Similar autonomous robots are being tested by Amazon, which is also exploring drone delivery, a device for which interest is also growing.

Wing, the drone start-up created by Alphabet (Google’s parent company) testing non-prescription drug delivery in Virginia, has seen a surge in demand, according to a spokesperson for the company.

"We hope this will allow even one less trip to a store," says James Ryan Burgess.

However, delivery by drone is still subject to numerous regulations, notably by the American authorities.

Zipline, a Californian start-up that delivers medical equipment by drone to Africa, said in a tweet that it wanted to offer similar services in the United States once it had obtained authorization.

"As an American company in times of crisis, we also want to help our country," she said.

© 2020 AFP