Robotic dogs could be coming to your door with Evri parcel delivery trial

The robodog gets back in the van and has a lie down after delivering its packages

Evri is testing out a robotic dog that can jump in and out of vans, climb stairs, and drop packages on your doorstep.

The 70kg robodog is the size of a Great Dane and zips around on wheels, using cameras to sense where to go.

It can hand parcels to customers directly, or can squat down and drop packages from its backside.

It’s not a belated April Fool though: this dog really will be let off the lead for the first trial of its kind in the UK, working alongside human couriers to deliver people’s parcels this summer.

Metro travelled to Evri’s HQ near Barnsley yesterday to see the dog in action, and we were surprised by the size and speed of it. It is no dalek thwarted by steps, and leaped around in a startling demonstration of how the robot future is upon us.

It is able to climb flights of stairs and open gates, and makers say it could could one day deliver parcels or takeaway food for companies on its own.

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So would you think this dog was a good boy if it appeared with your Vinted parcel?

Rivr, the company which invented it, said that robotics is having an ‘iPhone moment’, comparing the tech to the revolutionary launch of the smartphone which changed our lives.

Co-founder and CEO of the Swiss company, Marko Bjelonic, told Metro that we are living through a second industrial revolution, and compared robotic dog deliveries to the automation of parcel warehouses, which is now standard.

He predicted that within the next three years, we will see ‘more and more’ robots on the street, and within the next five to seven years he plans to have sold more than a million.

The robotic delivery dog

Weight: 70kg

Top speed: 6.5m/s

Endurance: 5 hours

Capacity: 50kg of weight in the drawer on its back

? Joel Goodman - 07973 332324 - all rights reserved . 02/04/2025. Barnsley, UK . A prototype of a "delivery dog" that is designed to take parcels from delivery vans to people's doorsteps is demonstrated by Evri courier and robot design firm RIVR at Evri's parcel depot near Barnsley. Photo credit : Joel Goodman — Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work the robot dog goes (Picture: Joel Goodman)

The AI-powered dog has sensors, cameras, 4G and 5G wi-fi routers, two-way audio, internal navigation, and a 45 Ah, 58V battery.

It can carry a box on its back for higher volume of parcels, or it can have an additional arm to ring doorbells and hand parcels directly to customers.

This is not just dreaming, as Rivr has been backed by Jeff Bezos, has secured $27 million in funding, and is already trialling the robots for parcel delivery in Switzerland.

Mr Bjelonic said it is possible that one day robotic delivery dogs could hang off the back of a self-driving van to leave more room for parcels inside, with fewer humans employed as couriers but new roles created to manage the robot fleet.

But for the ‘foreseeable future’, the focus is on human and robot working together for the physically intensive last stretch of a parcel reaching our homes.

Marcus Hunter, chief technology officer at Evri, said he hoped the robodog trial could help customers with disabilities who may take longer to answer the door.

The dog could wait up to ten minutes while a courier kept going with other parcels, rather than risk leaving the parcel unattended.

? Joel Goodman - 07973 332324 - all rights reserved . 02/04/2025. Barnsley, UK . Local residents Jill Roystone and Yogi out on a walk, as a prototype of a "delivery dog" that is designed to take parcels from delivery vans to people's doorsteps is demonstrated by Evri courier and robot design firm RIVR on a street near to Evri's parcel depot near Barnsley. Photo credit : Joel Goodman — The robot might confuse real dogs, although local canine Yogi didn’t seem concerned (Picture: Joel Goodman)

Referring to high profile trials of drone deliveries, Mr Hunter said: ‘Everybody does drones, but there’s a limitation to drones and you need quite a lot of approvals. So the next best thing is man’s best friend… a delivery driver’s best friend now.’

He admitted he would be ‘surprised’ to see a robotic dog at his door delivering parcels, so the trial will be opt-in to avoid giving any customers nightmares about the Terminator.

‘The courier is the heart of our business,’ he added, saying the point of this for Evri was not to replace human drivers but help them deliver more easily: ‘The more parcels they get to facilitate on their rounds, everybody’s happy.’

Parcel volumes are increasing because people do so much online shopping, and the UK in particular relies on doorstep deliveries rather than collecting things from a locker.

Yorkshire-based Evri delivers over 800 million parcels a year, with around 2.5 million deliveries a day.

The Rivr dog is not the only robot they are trying out. They’re also trialling one by Delivers AI, which looks like a coolbox on wheels that rolls itself along pavements independently.

Mr Hunter said using electric robots could reduce the carbon footprint of parcel delivery. Some couriers in London are already using ‘e-cargo bikes’, which are both battery and pedal powered.

He said: ‘If you link that up with the dog, you’ve got a really green solution. You could send them off into a block of flats and it could easily deliver five to ten parcels to the same block while the courier is doing other things and supporting it.’

Meanwhile, Amazon is investing in parcel delivery by drone and has chosen Darlington as the first location to test it in the UK.

Last week, the government announced £20 million in funding to make everyday use of flying taxis and drone deliveries a reality.

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