Refined Robotics boss Nick Hafner talks deployment challenges as delivery robot crashes in front of BBC
We recently reported Evri’s launch of what is pitched as Europe's first trial of a two-legged autonomous delivery robot, bringing the technology to Barnsley, the UK's first government backed Tech Town. The trial, in partnership with Refined Robotics, will explore how robotics can support couriers, enhance customer choice and help shape the future of parcel delivery.
The two-legged robot has been designed specifically for outdoor last mile deliveries. It can carry parcels weighing up to 15kg, travel at speeds of up to 6km/h and navigate real-world environments that can be challenging for traditional autonomous technologies, including climbing stairs, traversing uneven surfaces and entering and exiting delivery vans.
The robot can operate autonomously or be remotely monitored and is capable of both attended and unattended deliveries to help ensure consumers never miss a parcel. Throughout the trial, Evri will evaluate how the technology performs in residential environments and how it could support operational efficiency while maintaining the high levels of service customers expect.
It hasn’t been all plain sailing (or should we say rolling?) so far, however. Since we published our report, one of the robots has crashed in front of the BBC, who duly put the footage of ‘Iris’ taking a tumble on its website. Refined Robotics boss Nick Hafner has now taken to social media to address this, erm, unfortunate incident. In a LinkedIn post, he noted that people have been asking, "Why don't you use a quadruped? It wouldn't crash." But that, he insisted, misses the point.
He commented: “We now have fantastic new data about driving scenarios that we've never seen in simulation or in our deployments in Tokyo. We've already fixed the issue, and we're delivering real parcels everyday this week. So what was the issue? And would two more legs solve it? It turns out, the slopes and hilly terrain of Barnsley caused our robot to lean further on the left than the right, consistently. Over the course of a day's filming, this caused the left knee motor to overhead and shutdown, resulting in the fall.”
He added: “A quadruped with the same payload rating would have the same issue - if one leg collapsed the other on the same side with double the payload would certainly follow quickly. Now we have watchdogs, updated optimisation cost functions, and the robot has not had the same problem since. Of course there are other challenges, but we're ramping up the parcels per day, and drove 4 km today without any issues.”
You got this, Iris!
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Automation will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards, which celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world, have now closed for entries. Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
