By Associated Press - Saturday, March 16, 2019

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Grocery chain Kroger is ending a pilot program in Scottsdale that used unmanned vehicles to make deliveries to customers.

The Arizona Republic reports that the service, done in conjunction with robotics company Nuro, will stop after Wednesday.

Kroger officials say the plan was always for Nuro to test autonomous vehicle delivery in Scottsdale before expanding to a larger metro area.

The program started back in August with a fleet of Nuro’s self-driving Toyota Prius vehicles that had back-up human drivers. Nuro’s unmanned R1 vehicle was added four months later.

Both companies plan to test the delivery service at two Kroger stores in Houston.

Nuro spokeswoman Emma Esrock says the company will still have an office in Scottsdale. It will be dedicated to software testing, mapping and training staff.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

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