Pittsburgh International Airport is teaming up with tech startup Ottonomy and its fully autonomous delivery robot – Ottobot – for a pilot project offering select passengers a contactless delivery system.
Ottonomy is partnering with PIT’s xBridge Innovation Center, the airport’s tech proving ground for technologies and startups that provide solutions for the industry and beyond.
Drawing from the region’s strong innovation economy, the airport is a proof-of-concept site for technologies in a real-world operating environment as well as a pilot site for companies’ first deployments.
Volunteer customers will be able to order and receive beverages at designated drop-off points in PIT’s Airside Terminal. Ottobot from Ottonomy is the first fully autonomous robot for deliveries inside airports and is currently deployed at multiple airports in the USA and Europe.
Cole Wolfson, xBridge director, says: “We are committed to providing the best customer experiences by discovering and implementing innovative solutions that utilize cutting-edge technology.
“Pittsburgh International Airport’s xBridge has built a culture of innovation and we are excited to partner with Ottonomy to advance this technology in an airport environment.”
Ritukar Vijay, co-founder and CEO of Ottonomy, says: “Airports are dynamic and crowded environments, and are a perfect testbed for real-world deployments of Ottobots.
“Ottobot provides the only fully autonomous delivery experience for indoor and outdoor environments. We are seeing tremendous interest in our technology from leading airports and organizations across the globe.”
Ottobots can navigate autonomously through crowds and unpredictable environments using Ottonomy’s proprietary Contextual Mobility Navigation platform. The system is highly scalable and utilizes a comprehensive suite of tools to manage a fleet of robots across multiple locations.
