Robotic technology is now accessible to a wider range of businesses than ever before, extending beyond research institutions, large online retailers, and innovative tech companies. Even local businesses, such as grocery stores, can now utilize these advancements.

Tortoise, a Silicon Valley company founded just last year and initially recognized for its remotely guided electric scooters, has broadened its expertise to include delivery services. The company has recently collaborated with the online grocery platform Self Point to offer neighborhood stores and specialized retailers electric carts that utilize remote operators to fulfill local deliveries.

This new service has been initially introduced in Los Angeles with three participating businesses. Each business, including Kosher Express, is utilizing between two and three carts to deliver orders within a three-mile radius of their location. Unlike some autonomous delivery services, these grocery stores are responsible for leasing, storing, charging, and loading the carts with customer orders.

Although the initial rollout of the Self Point/Tortoise partnership is limited in scope, it demonstrates significant potential for expansion beyond Los Angeles. More crucially for Tortoise, it confirms the viability of their core concept – applying remote repositioning technology to a diverse array of applications.

Tortoise initially developed technology to equip electric scooters with cameras, electronic components, and software that enable remote operators to guide the scooters to riders or return them to designated parking areas. They have now adapted this same technology to create their own dedicated delivery cart.

Dmitry Shevelenko, co-founder and president of Tortoise, has stated that the company’s remote repositioning system can be adapted for use in security and cleaning robots, as well as electric wheelchairs and other assistive devices. The company has even received inquiries from agricultural businesses interested in utilizing remotely controlled scooters for crop monitoring.

“While we aren’t aiming for universal application immediately, there are no inherent technological limitations preventing us from doing so,” Shevelenko explained in a recent discussion.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shifts in consumer habits led Tortoise to prioritize delivery carts as a key area of focus.

“We quickly recognized a significant, potentially generational shift in consumer behavior, with a growing expectation for online ordering and same-day delivery,” Shevelenko noted. Tortoise was able to transition from initial designs in May to a full delivery cart launch by the fourth quarter due to their ability to repurpose existing hardware, software, and personnel.

The company continues to invest in its original micromobility application. Earlier this year, Tortoise, GoX, and Curiosity Lab, a tech incubator, initiated a six-month pilot program in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, allowing users to request a scooter through a mobile app. These scooters are equipped with Tortoise’s technology. Upon request, a Tortoise employee remotely steers the scooter to the user’s location. After use, the scooters autonomously navigate to a secure parking area, where GoX employees recharge and sanitize them, marking them with a sticker to confirm cleaning.

While the partnership with Self Point represents Tortoise’s current major undertaking, Shevelenko emphasized that the company is concentrating on a specific segment of the on-demand delivery market.

“High speeds and the transport of hot items are not well-suited to our current system,” he said. He added that companies like Kiwibot and Starship are addressing that particular market with smaller robots. Tortoise’s delivery carts are specifically designed to accommodate substantial quantities of groceries, beverages, and other retail goods.

“We identified a significant opportunity within the grocery sector,” he stated, emphasizing that their combination of remote operators and their technology provides a cost-effective solution available today, while fully automated technologies continue to evolve. “We are providing a solution for last-mile delivery analogous to the role globalized call centers played in customer support.”