Japan is set to be the first country to use self-driving cars for the delivery of goods purchased online.
The ‘on-demand service delivery’ from a second-party source, a joint effort between delivery company Yamato Transport and information technology company DeNA, will be tested on the road as early as March next year for the duration of a year.
The service is called ‘Roboneko’ or robot cat, which is a reference to the company’s black cat logo.
Cars will make their rounds at various national strategic zones during the initial phase and, if successful, the service will be rolled out to the entire country.
During the initial test run, the cars will have drivers on board to inspect and monitor them, and once operational, customers will be able to select and order items via an app on their smartphones.
Yamato is Japan’s largest door-to-door delivery service company, with a market share of 41%.
