Deliveries from an Arizona grocery store will soon be arriving with no one behind the wheel.
A fully autonomous vehicle took to public roads last week with no backup driver, though it was monitored by humans in another automobile.
After almost a thousand test runs with humans aboard modified Prius vehicles, deliveries were made last week in Scottsdale, Ariz., using the R1, an automobile with no steering wheel and no seats for humans.
The R1, when summoned, will travel within a mile radius of the Fry's Food grocery store just east of the Phoenix Zoo.
It will travel up to 25 miles per hour on residential roads, but stay clear of main roads or highways, according to Pam Giannonatti at Kroger Co., which owns Fry's.
Kroger has partnered with the tech company Nuro on the project.
"Through this exciting and innovative partnership, we are delivering a great customer experience and advancing Kroger's commitment to redefine the grocery experience by creating an ecosystem that offers our customers anything, anytime, and anywhere," said Yael Cosset, Kroger's chief digital officer.
Attempts to deploy fully autonomous vehicles on public streets have been limited by technological hurdles, as well as human apprehension.
