Summary
- Sidewalk robots are small delivery robots that can navigate sidewalks and climb curbs, helping with last-mile delivery.
- Sidewalk robots operate on battery power, can run on renewable energy, don’t get tired, and can provide round-the-clock delivery.
- Sidewalk robots use advanced obstacle detection technology, but concerns about road crossings and privacy linger as they continue to expand.
The next time you order food online, you might get your delivery from a robot instead of a human like you’re accustomed to. These robots are called sidewalk robots, and they are fast becoming popular in cities worldwide. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
What Are Sidewalk Robots?
Sidewalk robots (or Personal Delivery Devices as they are more officially referred to) are small robots that travel across the ground (usually the sidewalk) to deliver food, groceries, or other cargo to consumers. They are used in what’s known as last-mile delivery, which is the final journey from the distribution hub to you, the consumer.
Sidewalk robots can take different forms, but they tend to look like water coolers on wheels. They come up to about knee height and travel at the speed of a walking pedestrian.
The little robots are extremely capable. They can operate in various weather conditions, including rain and snow. They can climb curbs and navigate obstacles, and they are usually insulated on the inside so that your food remains hot or cold.
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There are many companies developing sidewalk robots, but some of the most popular ones are Starship, Coco, and Avride.
Why Do We Need Them?
Our current system of human delivery personnel works pretty well, so why the robots? There are a couple of arguments in favor of sidewalk robots.
The first is sustainability. Current delivery methods often involve large vehicles hauling tiny packages, idling in driveways, and contributing to carbon emissions. Sidewalk robots, on the other hand, are battery-powered and can run on renewable energy.
Another point in their favor is that they don’t get tired. Sidewalk robots can operate at any time of the day, allowing for round-the-clock deliveries.
There’s also the fact that sidewalk robots are cheaper in the long term, since there’s no need to pay a delivery driver or keep and fuel a fleet of vehicles. However, whether that cost savings will translate to cheaper meals is up in the air. You (probably) don’t have to tip sidewalk robots though, so there’s that.
They can also be faster than regular delivery methods, especially in urban areas with lots of traffic, since they use the sidewalk and don’t have to bother with road congestion.
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Contactless delivery is another reason to root for sidewalk robots. If there’s anything that Covid-19 taught us, it’s the importance of having systems where we can get things where they need to be with minimal human contact.
How Do Delivery Robots Work?
The exact technology behind a sidewalk robot depends on what company developed it. For example, while Starship’s sidewalk robots are about level 4 autonomous, Coco’s robots use a hybrid model with human pilots and partial autonomy.
However, despite their differences, most sidewalk robots share a few features that help them get from point A to B.
First is a navigation system, usually GPS, which helps the robot orient itself in its environment. Next is a whole suite of sensors, including but not limited to ultrasonic sensors, radar, lidar, cameras, and neural networks. These all work together to create a virtual map of the world that the robot can understand and use to avoid and react to obstacles. There’s also usually a computer unit that runs all the route planning algorithms and makes decisions to help the robot get to its destination safely and efficiently.
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How Safe Are These Robots?
Tiny robots trundling by on the sidewalk might be exciting, but they also throw up some safety questions. The first of which is: how safe are these robots for drivers and pedestrians?
For the most part, sidewalk robots are safe. They have state-of-the-art obstacle detection technologies that allow them to identify objects in their path and react accordingly to avoid collisions. Even if these obstacle detection systems fail, it is unlikely that these robots will cause any serious damage in the event of a collision since they are lightweight and cruise at the speed of a walking pedestrian.
Where sidewalk robots pose the most risk is when they attempt road crossings. There are some measures in place to ensure that they do so safely, including: only making crossings at suitable pre-mapped locations, a tall brightly colored flag extending to eye level so they are more visible to motorists, and the ability to default to a human operator when they encounter unexpected issues.
However, these measures aren’t always perfect, and there are YouTube videos of sidewalk robots getting confused when crossing the road and holding up traffic. In another video shared on Reddit, a sidewalk robot and a Waymo self-driving car collided at an intersection while the former was attempting a crossing.
Another concern with sidewalk robots is the possibility of their cargo being tampered with in transit. To combat this, the compartments of sidewalk robots are securely locked on delivery and can only be opened by the intended recipient through an app on their phone. If the robot is vandalized or tampered with, it can send out alerts that will notify its operators of the interference.
There’s also the matter of privacy to consider. There are concerns that sidewalk robots, like other cameras-on-wheels, could scan your face and expose you to a whole new level of monitoring.
Each sidewalk robot company has its own policy on what it does with the data it gathers, but Starship, one of the premier sidewalk robot companies, says that it adopts a couple of strategies to maintain privacy. This includes using low-resolution recordings, fixing the cameras at knee level and below, and using obfuscation techniques.
Additionally, it says that most videos its robots capture are deleted after 60 days, and they do not record conversations or audio data. However, they did note that they may share data collected by their robots with law enforcement in the event of a crime.
When and Where Will You See Them?
Sidewalk robots have been spotted in testing all over the US from Boston to Los Angeles, to Dallas. They are a common sight on university campuses, including the University of New Orleans, Arizona State University, the University of Kentucky, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Tennessee.
Sidewalk robot companies are also partnering with delivery and retail companies like Uber Eats, 7/11, DoorDash, Amazon, and Grubhub. So, the next time you order from one of them, keep an eye out for an option to receive your delivery by robot.
What Does the Future of Delivery Look Like?
Sidewalk robots are still pretty new tech, but their future looks promising. Improvements in navigation, battery, and the addition of AI could make the robots even more capable, and before long, sharing the sidewalk with a robot could be an everyday experience.
Sidewalk robots are also teaming up with other emerging delivery systems to make deliveries in otherwise hard-to-reach areas. As reported by Techexplore, In Dallas, sidewalk robots and drones are working together to execute deliveries. The drones are faster and can cover larger distances, but they have static pickup locations. Sidewalk robots help them get around this by navigating the city streets on their behalf and getting the order to the drone pickup area.
We’re probably still a few decades away from having robots deliver every meal and package, but we’re steadily moving toward that sci-fi future. As technology improves, we might start seeing specialized robots designed for different environments—some built for city streets, others for suburban neighborhoods. As these robots become more reliable and trusted, they could even be entrusted with sensitive deliveries, like life-saving medication.
For now, sidewalk robots are still a novelty in select cities, but who knows? In a few years, having a sidewalk robot roll up to your door might feel just as normal as a delivery driver ringing the bell, and I’m all for it.
