It’s a headless robot in a driverless car.
Ford Motor Co. is working on a way to resolve what self-driving researchers refer to as “the last 50-foot problem.” If an autonomous delivery vehicle arrives at your house, without any humans aboard, who’s going to carry the package, grocery bags or piping-hot pizza to your doorstep? A robot, of course, could be up to the task — with no tipping necessary.
In Ford’s case, the solution is Digit, an android with two stork-like legs, arms capable of carrying a 40-pound load and a camera-encrusted torso topped by a puck-shaped laser-radar sensor. It could be the headless cousin of a battle droid from the much maligned Star Wars prequels.
