Seven Eleven Participates in Government-Funded Demonstration Project for Outdoor Autonomous Robot Delivery

Seven Eleven autonomous driving robot Newbie.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] Seven Eleven announced on the 13th that it will participate in the demand-customized service robot development and distribution project led by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, together with Newbility.

As a participating institution in this government-led demonstration project, they are preparing for in-depth testing to establish an urban convenience store robot delivery service model using outdoor autonomous driving robots. Newbility is recognized widely in the field of autonomous driving robot software development and is an outstanding company invested in by Lotte Ventures' startup fund.

The two companies have solidified their partnership for next-generation last-mile delivery service projects. Since signing a business agreement in August last year for the introduction and commercialization of autonomous driving robot delivery services, they introduced the autonomous delivery robot ‘Newbi’ at the Seocho I-Park store. Newbi is equipped with a camera-based autonomous driving system, demonstrating excellent autonomous driving performance in urban areas. It can reliably perform autonomous delivery tasks even in complex urban environments or in rain and snow conditions.

Seven Eleven plans to conduct multi-store and multi-robot operation tests starting from the fourth quarter of this year. This test is the first phase of the demonstration project, with a total duration of three months until December. Seven Eleven plans to select three stores located mainly in the Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa areas, where delivery demand is steady and the robot driving environment is suitable for testing, and a total of three Newbi units will be deployed.

A Seven Eleven official said, “This demonstration project aims to design and test an urban convenience store robot delivery service model that can be jointly used across multiple convenience stores,” adding, “We will pioneer innovation to secure the next-generation delivery service market and enhance franchise store operational convenience and profitability through digital technology.”