Ordering goods online or from a local retailer and having them delivered to our homes is so common as to be called mundane at this point. There remains a human hand somewhere in all of those transactions, though – from the order puller at the warehouse to the delivery person who drops off the groceries. The very strange AMMI (Automated Mobile Marketing Intelligence) concept would remove humans from one more step of the shopping experience.

The little vehicle is meant to be programmed at home with the coordinates of the nearest grocery store. When the family needs supplies, they order online from that store and the order is made ready for them. Then the AMMI rolls into action. The autonomous vehicle makes its way through neighborhoods and into the supermarket where it is filled up with its owners purchases. When fully loaded, it rolls back home to be unloaded. A climate-controlled interior would make sure everything arrives nice and fresh.

We love weird futuristic concepts, but this one seems to have way too many flaws and potential problems to make it to mainstream. Sending a small vehicle out into the world on its own loaded down with groceries seems like an invitation to thieves and hooligans to do their worst. And while the AMMI would have a road recognition system and gyroscopic self-stabilization, the urban sport of AMMI tipping would undoubtedly put a swift end to any proliferation of this type of grocery-getting device. We’ll stick to our bike baskets for transporting food, thank you very much.