An Open-Source Framework for Last Mile Delivery with Heterogeneous Robots

Abstract: The SMADS project at the University of Texas at Austin develops software for autonomous robot deliveries on campus. It integrates various subsystems like autonomy, scheduling, interface, and a customer app. The study reports on delivering lemonade outdoors to campus buildings and highlights advancements in integrating end-users and robot autonomy into an open-source architecture. Over 5 days, 26 lemonade delivery trips were completed using two robot platforms. The paper discusses challenges, offers solutions, and suggests future work for deploying autonomous robots outdoors.