DPD UK is expanding its robot delivery service to Lincoln as part of a nationwide roll out that could see 30 UK parcel depots operating robots in their locality.

Based at DPD UK’s Lincoln depot at St Modwens Park, the robots will deliver to the nearby village of Witham St Hughs, via the existing network of footpaths.

The robots have a battery life of up to 12 hours and can deliver within a mile radius of the depot. Once they complete the mapping process, DPD UK said they operate autonomously with supervision and can be controlled using a remote.

Recipients will be alerted via SMS when the robot is outside their property and use a secure one-time pin code to open the robot and access their parcel.

Following delivery, the robot will either continue to its next delivery or return to the depot. Robots can make up to 30 deliveries per day.

DPD UK said it worked closely with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) on the introduction of the robots before deploying them.

The company first introduced robots in Milton Keynes in July 2022 and expanded the service to other towns and cities.

Tim Jones, director of marketing, communications & sustainability DPD group UK said that the robots had exceeded expectations and had proved themselves in a range of different locations.

“As a company we are committed to investing in innovation, learning and challenging ourselves to find new ways to improve our operation and become more sustainable,” he added. “Our journey to Net Zero is largely dependent on employing ever smarter technologies and, while the robots are one small part of that, they are a great example of integrating autonomous technology into our operation.”

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