Carnegie Mellon University research, from the College of Engineering to the School of Computer Science to Heinz College, is focusing on one of the more positive aspects of delivery automation: energy-saving and consequent environmental friendliness. The U.S. Department of Energy has provided Carnegie Mellon with $2.5 million for research on energy efficiency and mobility intelligence for drones, autonomous vehicles, and robots.

Carnegie Mellon associate professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering and 2019 ASCE Pittsburgh professor of the year, Costa Samaras, is one of the leaders in the project, and discussed the implications of this ongoing research in an interview with The Tartan.

Primarily, his team is trying to figure out how much energy automated delivery robots and their complementing networks could save in the goods transportation market. Samaras estimates at least a 20 percent energy savings.
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