In Finland, S-Group, a leading grocery retailer, is using innovative robotic delivery service in around 100 shops around Finland. Customers can order through the S-Group’s mobile app from Alepa and Sale stores.
Over the past year, these robots have become a familiar sight, delivering over 150 000 orders. In total the robots have made over 350,000 deliveries to customers and traveled a million kilometers in Finland. In Finland, Starship’s transport robots started operating in Otaniemi, Espoo, in April 2022. Finland has introduced rules for the use of small transport robots in public transport.
The robots are from Estonian-based ten years old company Starship Technologies. Starship Technologies develops battery-powered robots in Finland as well as Estonia. The headquarters are in the United States. Starship’s food robots have already traveled 15 million kilometers and made more than seven million autonomous deliveries around the world.
Starship’s robots have 12 cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radar, and use computer vision to detect obstacles. Robots are almost completely autonomous. The robot uses the latest computer vision and GPS positioning to navigate. Although the robots travel autonomously 99 percent of the time, and a human can take control of them at any time. The robots have also a voice feature that allows it to communicate with those nearby.
A large part of our product development for robot technology and transport services has been done in Finland. The appearance of the robots has also been designed by the Finnish company Aivan. Finns designed a robot that is treated like an animal. Designer Antti Mäkelä says that the robots have been designed to be humane, sweet and approachable in order to protect them from vandalism.
“According to Mäkelä, it has been essential in the design of the robot that the 12 cameras located in the front of it have been hidden. In terms of the experience of friendliness and innocence, it is important that people do not feel that they are being snooped on.” – The essential thing is probably that when people are eavesdropped on, they don’t know it and therefore don’t feel that way.
Videos:
Starship Robots in the Finnish Winter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKg3WFlKz4U
How Alepa Food Delivery Robots are replacing human workers in Espoo, Finland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKI09vTf6d4
How a Robot Delivers Grocery in Finland! Amazing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS8fx4JRCF4
A Day in the Life of a Starship Robot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z417CncwQsg
Inside Starship Delivery Robots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GpaAF3_lKA
Sources:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/02/13/starshipin-robotit-vievat-jo-woltin-ruuatkin/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2024/12/18/konenako-helpottaa-kuljetusrobottien-toimintaa/
https://www.starship.xyz/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/?s=Starship
https://yle.fi/a/74-20138076
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Technologies
https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/25222-finnish-grocery-chain-expands-robotic-delivery-to-over-100-stores-by-year-end.html
Bonus video how to make your own:
Building a Delivery Robot (controlled by Live Chat) using Raspberry Pi 4 | Droiid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdV8n915Vwk
15 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ruokarobotti harhautui hinausauton lavalle Paimiossa – pelastuslaitos palautti liikenteeseen
Robotti eksyi auton lavalle, kun se oli ala-asennossa kevyen liikenteen väylällä.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20145293?fbclid=IwY2xjawImq0ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSfTlYNWv9SVy6vftw6YGjTpEVSh7gGiC0QFEw2PrkgRLygptltqevt69g_aem_hRlnTe8x_zZHfN5s132URw
Howells says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
https://dawn.fi/uutiset/2025/03/10/wolt-coco-robottikuljetus-ravintolat-helsinki?fbclid=IwY2xjawI8Mb1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVShX46Ic-cOV2w7SB2qp_Nuli_36TbQ8mfDCuOe61AyxLmVisEwxCTrow_aem_bcj2BEGxrCG5Ux1h2b2wlw
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/03/11/uusi-kuljetusrobotti-suomeen-wolt-pilotoi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jäynä
https://www.iltalehti.fi/palat/0ed19ff4-5ab1-4809-98e9-9a0d3f5d7929
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wolt aloittaa uudenlaisen kokeilun
Wolt aloittaa ravintolaruoan robottikuljetukset Helsingin Kampissa 10. maaliskuuta alkaen.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/ruoka-artikkelit/a/280de940-c4fa-4242-a0ac-442a708f6517
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video on robots
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16AEA3zCDN/
Tomi Engdahl says:
S-ryhmä myöntää: jokainen ruokaa verkkokaupasta tilaava saa huomattavan edun kaupalta
SOK:n pääjohtaja Hannu Krook: ruuan verkkokauppaa vielä harjoitellaan. Se ei oikeastaan missään maailmassa ole kannattavaa.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20159731
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robot drops to water
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EHc8CW9PN/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ruokarobotin epäonni
https://www.iltalehti.fi/palat/5941ab61-6d31-42ba-b60a-da63aa7c3cb9?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawLaQqlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmJomOTegvCO82ew03FEgQIp97brkgmumX4jP1HVLlPNqjTI2O-wddlHbShm_aem_l0FcnqpTPbDcWJp_TEYL9Q#Echobox=1751990850
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/07/14/droonien-kayttoa-testaan-oulun-asuntomessuilla/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/08/06/koululaiset-liikkeelle-robottien-kanssa/
Ruokarobotit muistuttavat liikenneturvallisuuden merkityksestä koulujen alkaessa Valppain mielin -tempauksella. Starship Technologyn kuljetusrobottimme ovat valloittaneet jo aiemmin lasten sydämet: roboista pidetään ja niitä myös autetaan, kun ne välillä joutuvat kiipeliin.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ässä-robottien takana on keksijä, joka on tehnyt jo yhden miljoonatilin Skypellä
Ahti Heinlan perustaman Starship Technologiesin robotteja kulkee satamäärin Suomenkin kaduilla. S-ryhmän asiakkaille robotit ovat toimittaneet jo yli miljoona tilausta.
https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/a/789c7d83-0a6d-4689-8953-f383874e9f5d
Starship Technologiesin laatikkomainen robotti ajelee katua alas kuin tilauksesta juuri, kun soitamme summeria yhtiön konttorin ovella Tallinnassa. Robotti on suorittamassa testiajoa, sillä Suomessa Alepa-robottinakin tunnettua kuljetuslaitetta kehitetään kaiken aikaa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://taltech.ee/en/news/what-it-live-one-worlds-most-digitally-advanced-countries?fbclid=IwdGRjcAP4msBleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqy0zz2WyBXNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHtGBvhW5FLbvx6ovx-mBNPDR330NHmx7CbjEJupu55Dh1zK2RMuZUf2Y1_Bl_aem_BgXn28hORJ68wrEBujiDwA&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=fb&utm_id=120238801152880549&utm_content=120239515404350549&utm_term=120238801152700549&utm_campaign=120238801152880549
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coco No
Woman Annoyed When Delivery Robot Comes Into Her Yard, Tears Up Her Garden and Steals Her Fence
“I chased after it and looked like a total crazy person, running after a robot in the middle of the street and yelling at it.”
https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/delivery-robot-yard-garden?fbclid=IwdGRjcAQTXkdjbGNrBBNeLmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHrFB7YW_UuQTlL9dqoOk6WdHKszaLQ4ow2PMHPXigDjtd0OWnmgFFtVnL_fk_aem_f4HYTf45AK2NbO2EubywAg
These days, moles and gophers aren’t the only pests you have to worry about tearing up your yard. You also have to watch for Cocos — pink, four-wheeled delivery robots currently metastasizing across cities throughout the US.
East Hollywood resident Kaiya Reel learned this the hard way. According to local news station KTLA, Reel was first alerted to the presence of something in her garden by a loud ruckus. When she came out to investigate, she was surprised to discover a Coco delivery robot struggling to free itself from her fence.
“I came out here and I found the Coco in my garden,” she told KTLA. “It had got my fence caught up in its wheel. It uprooted a whole bunch of [plants] in my garden and then just drove away with the fence attached to it.”
The delivery robots have caused a number of problems wherever they’ve been deployed. In Chicago, the little fellas irked residents so bad that they’ve been functionally banned from certain sections of the city. In East Hollywood, KTLA reports that a Coco robot was caught charging headlong into an ambulance, while delivery bots from other companies have blocked mobility scooters and knocked over motorcycles.
“I think the part that worries me is that these companies can come in and dump their technology in our community and there’s no sense of accountability,” Reel told the station. “It just feels like an accident waiting to happen.”