Nuro

Nuro has revealed the design for its 3rd-gen autonomous delivery pod, which can carry more groceries per trip, and comes with an external pedestrian airbag to the front that's "optimized to reduce the force of impact" in the event of collision.

Around this time last year, robotics startup Nuro was granted a deployment permit in California for its autonomous delivery vehicle. Now the company has partnered with convenience store chain 7-Eleven for the first commercial delivery service.

Nuro has entered an agreement with logistics giant FedEx, which has committed to using the startup's autonomous vehicle for last-mile deliveries in the long-term and at a "large scale."

Almost three years after revealing its autonomous delivery vehicle, Nuro is about to start commercial operations in California. Initially, service needs will be met by fully autonomous Prius vehicles, but the R2 delivery pods won't be far behind.

In a significant step forward for the autonomous vehicle industry, the US Department of Transport (DOT) has granted its first ever self-driving vehicle exemption to startup Nuro, meaning its autonomous delivery pod can now push ahead on public roads.

After first revealing its autonomous electric delivery pod in January last year, robotics startup Nuro has now teamed up with Walmart for grocery delivery by self-driving pod in the Houston metro area.