NTT Group Companies Begin Demonstration Experiment of Autonomous and Efficient Food Delivery Using Robots
Creating Valuable New Experiences for Office Workers & Sales Opportunities for Restaurants

Tokyo – October 3, 2022 – NTT Urban Solutions, Inc. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Member of the Board President: Hiroshi Tsujigami), NTT Urban Development (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Hiroshi Tsujigami), NTT Communications Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Toru Maruoka, "NTT Com"), and NTT Corporation (Head Office：Chioyda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Akira Shimada, "NTT") are working together to reduce the need for human labor by utilizing robots in a new initiative. The four companies are conducting demonstration experiments involving food delivery using autonomous robots linked to mobile ordering apps. Through this demonstration, they also aim to create new and valuable experiences for office workers and sales opportunities for restaurants. This demonstration will begin on October 3, 2022, at the Urbannet Nagoya Nexta Building (1-chome, Higashi-sakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya), a new construction completed in January 2022.

Fig. 1: Home Delivery Robot "DeliRo"

Outline of the Demonstration Experiment

Point 1.

We will create a new valuable experience that delivers products from mobile orders for office workers who do not have time to go shopping due to obligations like sudden meetings.

Point 2.

We can efficiently deliver products to designated locations at specific times by collecting, predicting, and analyzing data such as crowd and reservation information to create optimal routes and operation plans.

Point 3.

Office workers can complete everything from ordering to payment through an app. Since robots autonomously collect and deliver, restaurants can also acquire new sales opportunities.

Seamless coordination between robots and buildings is becoming commonplace. By collecting building facility information, route and store traffic information, and other data in the cloud, the robot autonomously searches for the optimal route without human instructions after receiving an order, all to pick up and deliver to the applicable floor.

Verification Details
  Verification of User Needs (users and restaurants)

 Verification of Technology

We will utilize NTT's "Machizukuri DTC^®"¹ and "4D Digital Platform^®"² technologies to achieve this demonstration. In addition, we will utilize 5G for communication with the robot, characterized by high speed, a large capacity, and low latency. 5G communication will achieve safe and secure indoor delivery services by determining the position information of the robot, providing camera footage while on the road, and the operation status of multiple units.

Fig. 2:　Robot delivery service and system overview

Role of Each Collaborator:

Upcoming Developments

Initiatives to Use Robots

NTT Urban Solutions already uses robots for security and cleaning at Urbannet Nagoya Nexta Building. In the future, we will continue to work toward further utilization of robots in buildings and districts in anticipation of a declining working population, such as delivery by robots within districts (including indoors and outdoors), integrated control (including robots with different purposes), and the multi-use of robots. We will continue to study and verify the surrounding issues.

NTT Group's vision for urban development

NTT Group aims to create new value by integrating various robots into the lives of each person through the "MachiZukuri DTC^®" utilizing the IOWN Concept³ technology.
 The robots will not only fulfill the functions of delivery, security, and cleaning, but will also predict and anticipate each person's current condition to provide comfort, security, convenience, and excitement.

Astro Boy is used as the image character for the "Machizukuri DTC^®" promotion by NTT Urban Solutions. ©Tezuka Productions
Our Future Town "The Future Beyond our Imagination is Just Around the Corner"

¹"MachiZukuri DTC^®" is a technology that optimizes the entire city by linking various functions such as store management, food loss prevention, and personal service (hospitality) based on the concept of digital twin computing⁴. Please refer to the Related Press Releases section below to see other related initiatives.

²The 4D Digital Platform^® provides various sensing data collected in real time of people, things, and events, including information on latitude, longitude, altitude, and time. It is a platform that enables data fusion and future prediction in cooperation with various industrial platforms by syncing and integrating with high accuracy. Using NTT's IOWN concept as a foundation to support "Digital Twin Computing (DTC)", the technology of NTT Laboratories, and the know-how and assets of the NTT Group, we are proceeding with the commercialization of functions from fiscal 2021 and their expansion through continuous research and development. For more information, please visit the site below.
https://www.rd.ntt/4ddpf/

³The "IOWN concept" uses innovative technology to exceed the limits of conventional infrastructure, optimize the individual and entire systems based on various kinds of information, and create a prosperous society open to diversity. It is a network and information processing infrastructure including terminals that can provide high-speed, large-capacity communication and innovative technologies centered on this concept.
https://www.rd.ntt/iown/0001.html
At the NTT R&D Forum: Road to IOWN 2022*, which will be held from Nov. 16th- 18th, 2022, we will exhibit a robot-based food delivery operation demonstration.
*NTT R&D Forum 2022 Homepage: https://www.rd.ntt/forum/2022/index.html

⁴"Digital Twin Computing (DTC)" is the construction of digital replicas of things and people found in the real world. Systems that could not be handled comprehensively until now can be reproduced with high accuracy, enabling predictions of the future.
https://www.rd.ntt/iown/0003.html

Related Press Releases

NTT Corporation & NTT Urban Solutions (Feb. 2, 2022)
NTT's Digital Infrastructure "MachiZukuri DTC^™" Realizes Future Urban Development
https://www.ntt-us.com/news/2021/02/news-210202-01.html

NTT Urban Solutions & NTT DATA Corporation (March 30, 2021)
Commencement of Demonstration Experiment of "MachiZukuri DTC^™" at WITH HARAJUKU
https://www.ntt-us.com/news/2021/03/news-210330-01.html

NTT Urban Solutions & NTT DATA Corporation (Sept. 6, 2021)
Commencement of "Personalized Service (Hospitality)" Demonstration Experiment in the Shinagawa Area
https://www.ntt-us.com/news/pdf/news_us210906_001.pdf

NTT Urban Solutions, NTT Communications, NTT Facilities & NTT Urban Development (Nov. 29, 2021)
Development of "MachiZukuri DTC^™" Air Conditioning Control Optimization System
https://www.ntt-us.com/news/2021/11/news-211129-02.html

NTT Urban Solutions & NTT Urban Development (Feb. 1, 2022)
Completion of the Next-Generation Advanced Office "Urbannet Nagoya Nexta Building"
https://www.ntt-us.com/news/2022/02/news-220201-01.html