It is reported that the phenomenon of robot food delivery on the streets of the United States is due to the increase in food delivery due to people reducing contact during the pandemic. Perhaps robot delivery will replace the traditional delivery man in the future.
A food delivery robot crosses a street Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Robots delivering food are no longer science fiction. Hundreds of tiny robots -- knee high and big enough to hold about four large pizzas -- now navigate college campuses and even urban sidewalks in the United States, Britain and elsewhere. Although there were limited tests of robots before the coronavirus hit, the companies that build them say labor shortages related to the pandemic and a growing preference for contactless delivery have accelerated their deployment. Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, human contact has decreased, and various delivery services have been developed instead. Abroad, scientists have developed a robot that can deliver food, making it no longer the stuff of science fiction. It is currently being piloted on the University of Michigan campus, but it is expected that in the near future, robot food delivery will be distributed in various communities and become universal.
Hundreds of small robots knee high and capable of holding about four large pizzas are now designated on college campuses and even some city sidewalks. In countries like the US and THE UK, although there were limited tests of robots before the coronavirus hit, companies that build them say that Labour shortages linked to the pandemic and a growing preference for contactless delivery have accelerated their deployment.
As robots emerge in more and more of the real world, it is important that they are able to work effectively with human users. In addition to communicating with humans and assisting them in daily tasks, it could be useful for robots to autonomously decide if they need their help.
"We've seen the demand for the use of robots reach its limits," said AlastairWestgarth, CEO of Starship Technologies. "I think the demand has always been there, but it's been brought about by the pandemic effect." The company recently completed its 2 millionth delivery.
Robots vary in design; For example, some have four wheels and some have six. But generally, they use cameras, sensors, GPS, and sometimes laser scanners to navigate on their own on sidewalks and even across streets. They're moving at five miles an hour.
Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
Remote operators monitor multiple robots at once, but rarely need to apply brakes or navigate obstacles. When the robot arrives at its destination, the customer will enter a code on the phone, open the lid and retrieve the food.
The shortcomings of these robots limit their usefulness. They're electric, so they have to be recharged regularly. They are slow and usually stay within a small pre-mapped radius.
But they may not be welcome in many big cities with crowded sidewalks, such as New York, Beijing and San Francisco. Because they lack flexibility, customers can't tell the robots to leave their food outside the door.
Still, Bill Ray, an analyst at Gartner, a consultancy, thinks these robots could make a lot of sense on corporate or college campuses, or in new neighborhoods with wide sidewalks.
The robot delivers food across the sidewalk
There have been no reports of problems with the robot, Ray said, except for the occasional group of children surrounding the robot to try to confuse it. In 2019, Starship at the University of Pittsburgh briefly stopped service after a wheelchair user said a robot was blocking her ramp.
PatrickSheck, a junior at Bowling Green State university, receives deliveries of Starship robots three or four times a week after school.
"The robot stopped just in time for me to have lunch," Shak said. Bowling Green and Starship charge $1.99, plus a service fee for each robot delivery.
Kiwibot, based in Los Angeles and Medellin, Colombia, says it now has 400 robots making deliveries on college campuses and in downtown Miami.
Express delivery companies are also entering the market. Grubhub recently partnered with Russian robot maker Yandex to deploy 50 robots on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Grubhub plans to add more campuses soon, although the company stresses that for now the service won't go beyond universities.
Food is loaded into a robot on the Campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Orders delivered in the United States rose 66 percent in the fiscal year that ended in June, according to NPD, a data and consulting firm. Even after the pandemic abates, delivery demand is likely to continue to rise as customers get used to the convenience.
Ji Hye Kim, chef and managing partner of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, Mich., relied heavily on robotic delivery when the restaurant closed last year. Shortly before the pandemic began, Kim worked with a local robotics company, Refraction AI.
Kim prefers bots to third-party delivery companies like Doodash, which charge significantly more and sometimes cancel orders if there aren't enough drivers. Delivery companies also bundle multiple orders on each trip, so food sometimes arrives cold, she said. The robot only takes one order at a time.
Kim says the robots also excite customers, who often post videos of their interactions.
"It's very cute and novel, and you don't have to face people," Kim says. It's a comfort." . Since her restaurant reopened, delivery demand has dropped, but the robot still delivers about 10 orders a day.
While Kim has hung on to staff during the pandemic, other restaurants have struggled to find staff. In a recent survey, 75 percent of American restaurateurs told the National Restaurant Association that recruiting and retaining employees is their biggest challenge.
That has many restaurants hoping to fill the gap with robotic deliveries.
"There are not enough delivery drivers in the country right now," said DennisMaloney, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Domino's Pizza.
Domino is working with Nuro, a California startup whose 6-foot-tall automated cockpitshave a top speed of 25 miles per hour on streets, not sidewalks. Nuro is testing grocery and food delivery in Houston, Phoenix and Mountain View, Calif.
Maloney says it's not a question of if robots will start doing more deliveries, but when. He thinks companies like Domino will eventually use a mix of robots and drivers based on location. For example, sidewalk robots can work on military bases, and Nuro is ideal for suburban areas. Road driving will be left to human workers.
Maloney says Nuro delivery is currently more expensive than using human drivers, but costs will come down as the technology is upgraded and perfected.
For cheaper sidewalk robots, estimated to cost $5,000 or less, it's easier to reduce human delivery costs. Grubhub drivers in Ohio make an average of $47,650 a year, according to the job site.
But robots don't always come at the expense of delivering jobs. In some cases, they help create them. Until the Starship robot arrived, Bowling Green didn't offer delivery services to campus restaurants. Since then, Bowling has hired more than 30 people to run between the kitchen and the robot, according to Bowling Green spokesman Jon Zachrich.
Brendan Witcher, a technology analyst at consulting firm Forrester, says it's easy to get excited about the possibility of Jetsons robots being delivered. But ultimately, robots have to prove that they somehow create an advantage.
"We are likely to see this play out in other ways," he said. But now is the right time and place for companies considering using robots to test them, learn from them and evaluate themselves."
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