ABB AMRs and the Sidewalk Delivery Robot Jam

From a 1944 milkman's sled to a Coco delivery robot jam in Chicago, and how ABB's Flexley Mover AMRs and AMR Studio coordinate robot fleets in factories.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/26/20261 min read

In 1944, this milkman on the Toronto Islands pulled his crates on a sled through the snow. Home delivery used to mean a person walking the same street every morning with milk, bread or newspapers, who knew which gate to use and where to leave the bottles.

Black and white photo of a milkman pulling crates of bottles on a sled through snow
Black and white photo of a milkman pulling crates of bottles on a sled through snow

A milkman delivering on the Toronto Islands in winter, 1944. Photo: The Globe and Mail via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Sidewalk robots arrived much later. Starship's small six-wheeled robots began delivering food on university campuses and city streets in the late 2010s, finding their way with cameras and getting help from remote operators when they got stuck.

White six-wheeled delivery robot with an orange flag on a trailer ramp
White six-wheeled delivery robot with an orange flag on a trailer ramp

A Starship delivery robot on a trailer ramp, 2021. Photo: Mbrickn / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

In early September, a video from Chicago's Lincoln Park went viral. More than a dozen Coco delivery robots were circling one another on a sidewalk, lights flashing. Coco blamed a "sidewalk deployment error" in which several robots leaving their station were rerouted at the same time. It was fixed in minutes, but the episode raised concerns that a blocked sidewalk hits wheelchair users and blind pedestrians hardest.

Orange four-wheeled Coco delivery robot with a flag on a city sidewalk
Orange four-wheeled Coco delivery robot with a flag on a city sidewalk

A Coco delivery robot in Brickell, Miami, April 2026. Photo: Phillip Pessar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

The Chicago jam came from how the fleet was dispatched, and factories deal with that problem every day. ABB's Flexley Mover AMRs navigate with 3D Visual SLAM, mapping their surroundings to within 10 mm and sharing navigation data with the rest of the fleet.

Small ABB mobile robot carrying stacked dark crates in a blue-lit hall
Small ABB mobile robot carrying stacked dark crates in a blue-lit hall

An ABB Flexley Mover P603 carrying crates. Photo: ABB

ABB's AMR Studio software and its Fleet Manager handle fleet coordination and traffic management, so ABB's tugs, movers and forklifts can work in one layout. Fleet software like this can send robots out of a station one at a time and make them wait their turn at narrow points.

Low white ABB mobile robot on a grey floor in front of large red ABB letters
Low white ABB mobile robot on a grey floor in front of large red ABB letters

The ABB Flexley Mover P604, which navigates with 3D Visual SLAM. Photo: ABB

Sidewalk robots will need the same discipline plus some manners: leave room for wheelchairs, wait at narrow spots and let people go first. I would happily get my groceries by robot, as long as the robots queue better than we do.

Low white ABB mobile robot carrying stacked blue crates across a factory floor
Low white ABB mobile robot carrying stacked blue crates across a factory floor

ABB's Flexley Mover P603 carrying crates across a factory. Photo: ABB

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