Was I Wrong About Sidewalk Delivery Robots?

Will sidewalk delivery robots gain traction or will they ultimately end up in the trash heap of ideas? I'm reconsidering my answer.

Apr 21, 2025

Today is the 129th Boston Marathon. I don’t think there are any humanoid robots entered in the race, but based on how humanoid robots performed a few days ago at a half-marathon in China, the 30,000 human runners lining up at the starting line in Hopkinton, MA this morning have nothing to worry about.

Robots and AI have been dominating the headlines the past few years as emerging trends that are in the process of transforming supply chain and logistics operations. In the case of robots, there are many types and form factors, including humanoid robots, automated mobile robots, sidewalk delivery robots, and autonomous trucks and drones (if you really want to stretch the definition).

I’ve written about many of these types of robots in previous posts:

Latest Indago Research Report: Revisiting Inbound Logistics

Inbound logistics plays a critical role in supply chain efficiency, cost control, and operational resilience. How would you rate your overall inbound logistics processes? What are your biggest inbound logistics challenges? What actions are you taking to improve your inbound logistics operations?

Download the Report

Subscribe to "Be Uncommon" Newsletter