Here are Grab's new innovations to make transportation, mapping, navigation, and delivery services better
Grab, Southeast Asia's leading superapp, developed a suite of proprietary hardware devices to enhance its mapping, navigation, and delivery services.
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| Grab's home-grown IoT devices |
Homegrown hardware solutions for enhancing services
Grab is leveraging cutting-edge technology and the local expertise of its driver-partners Grab address the unique challenges of the region's dynamic urban and rural landscapes. This article explores five key hardware innovations, such as the KartaCam 2, KartaDongle, Grab Smart Food Lockers, and Bluetooth Beacons, designed to improve efficiency, accuracy, and user experience across Grab's ecosystem.
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| KartaCam 2 captures location and 360-degree video footage |
KartaCam 2: Revolutionising Map-Making
Launched in 2024, the Grab KartaCam 2 is an advanced, edge AI-powered map-making camera that builds on the success of its predecessors, KartaCam and KartaCam360. It is designed for portability and high-quality image capture, making it ideal for mapping Southeast Asia's narrow alleys and rapidly changing urban environments.
It is equipped with four 48MP sensors for 360-degree coverage, dual-band GPS, LiDAR compatibility, and an extendable antenna. This delivers precise location data and superior spatial detail while the camera's edge AI automatically retakes low-quality images and blurs personally identifiable information, such as faces and license plates, ensuring privacy and efficiency. Its unique ergonomic design and mounting system are compatible with over 80 percent of Southeast Asian Motorcycles, which allows driver partners to collect billions of images seamlessly while performing regular duties.
By developing KartaCam 2 in-house, Grab has reduced hardware and imagery collection costs by up to 90 percent when compared to third-party solutions, while providing driver-partners an additional income stream through mapping tasks via the KartaView App.
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| KartaCam 2 on the battery backpack |
Lastly, the KartaCam 2 can also be attached to a Backpack for locations not accessible by vehicles.
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| Grab Dashcam |
Crowdsourcing Mapping with Driver-Partner
Unlike traditional mapping providers, Grab taps into local knowledge of its fleet of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and even pedestrians to capture hyperlocal details such as small alleys inaccessible to four-wheeled vehicles. Since 2017, GrabMaps has mapped over 900,000km of missing roads and 50 million points-of-interest which has contributed significantly to OpenStreetMap.
Driver-partners pick up mapping jobs through the KartaView app, which provides turn-by-turn navigation and real-time task management. This community-driven approach ensures frequent map updates, addressing the rapid development of Southeast Asian Cities where third-party maps often lag behind. By offering mapping as an additional income stream, Grab empowers its driver-partners while building a granular, context-rich map tailored to the region's needs.
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| Grab Smart Food Lockers |
Smart Food Lockers: Streamlining Deliveries
Grab's Smart Food Lockers, deployed in Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, were designed to address common pain points in food delivery, such as crowded lobbies and unattended packages. These lockers provide contactless, secure, and hygienic pickup solutions, allowing customers to retrieve orders using a QR code from the Grab app.
For delivery partners, the system saves time by eliminating handoff delays, enabling them to complete more orders and increase earnings. These lockers are particularly effective in high-traffic areas, ensuring food remains fresh and secure until pick-up. By reducing friction in the delivery process, Grab enhances customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, with plans to expand the system to other markets in the Philippines.
Each hardware innovation demonstrates Grab's commitment to solving Southeast Asia's unique logistical challenges. By integrating advanced AI, IoT, and crowdsourced data, these devices enhance GrabMaps' accuracy, streamline navigation, and optimise delivery processes. The involvement of driver-partners not only improves service quality but also creates economic opportunity.
As Grab continues to scale these solutions across its eight operating countries, it sets a new standard for hyperlocal, efficient, and user-centric services in the region.
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