Delivery robot

File:Zdjęcie Kerfusia (crop).jpg, a famous delivery robot from Poland]]

Deployments of food delivery robots were in a small scale prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Durbin |first1=Dee-Ann |title=Robots hit the streets as demand for food delivery grows |url=https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-robot-food-delivery-technology-business-5b7dbb782f89ef3d586eefb9a33d5e1c |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=The Associated Press |date=2 November 2021}} By January 2019, there were some deployments on United States college campuses. George Mason University became the first university campus that incorporated on-demand food deliveries by robots as part of its meal plan with 25 robot fleet from Starship Technologies.{{cite news |last1=Holley |first1=Peter |title=George Mason students have a new dining option: Food delivered by robots |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/01/22/george-mason-students-have-new-dining-option-food-delivered-by-robots/ |access-date=15 November 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=22 January 2019}} As the pandemic continued on, demands for food deliveries had increased significantly. This caused the demands for food delivery robots in college campuses to surge as well. Starship and other companies such as Kiwibot deployed hundreds of food delivery robots to several college campuses and some city streets in the United States and United Kingdom. Food delivery service companies also added delivery robots to their platform. For example, Grubhub partnered with Yandex to provide services in colleges, while Uber Eats partnered with Serve Robotics, Motional, Cartken, and Avride for robot food delivery in various cities in the United States.{{cite news |last1=Bellon |first1=Tina |title=Uber launches robot food delivery in California|url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/uber-launches-robot-food-delivery-california-2022-05-16/|access-date=15 May 2024 |work=Reuters |date=16 May 2022}}{{cite news|last1=Paris |first1=Martine|title=Uber Eats Deploys Sidewalk Delivery Robots In Miami And Robotaxis In Vegas Just In Time For CES|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/martineparis/2022/12/16/uber-is-back-in-the-robot-business-just-in-time-for-ces/?sh=726aff2e3a64|access-date=15 May 2024 | work=Forbes | date=16 Dec 2022}} Also, Yandex uses self-development {{ill|Yandex Rover|ru|Робот-доставщик «Яндекса»}} delivery robots for its delivery service «Yandex Eats» and «{{ill|Yandex Shop|ru|Яндекс Лавка}}» ({{langx|ru|Яндекс Лавка|Yandeks Lavka}}) in a number of Russian cities since 2019.{{Cite web |title=Заказ везёт «Яндекс.Ровер» — Транспорт на vc.ru |url=https://vc.ru/transport/210505-zakaz-vezet-yandeks-rover |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329200436/https://vc.ru/transport/210505-zakaz-vezet-yandeks-rover |archive-date=2023-03-29 |website=vc.ru|date=25 February 2021 }} Limitations of using food delivery robots includes inability to accommodate special delivery requests such as leaving the food at the door, and inability to navigate difficult terrains. This may require remote operators to help the robots to navigate around obstacles.

File:Woman Takes Groceries from Dax Delivery Robot.jpg

In April 2018, Starship Technologies launched its groceries delivery service in Milton Keynes, England, in partnership with supermarket chains Co-op and Tesco.{{cite news | url= https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/co-op-expands-robot-deliveries-to-second-store/591944.article | title= Co-op expands robot deliveries to second store | first = Steve | last = Farrell | date= 2019-04-01 | work= The Grocer | access-date= 2020-06-14}}

By November 2020, said Starship Technologies, Milton Keynes had the "world's largest autonomous robot fleet".{{Cite press release|title=Milton Keynes now has 'world's largest autonomous robot fleet' as Starship expand further|url=https://www.mkfm.com/news/local-news/milton-keynes-now-has-worlds-largest-autonomous-robot-fleet-as-starship-expand-further/|access-date=2020-11-06|website=MKFM|publisher=Starship Technologies |date=May 30, 2020}}

Early 2022 saw the opening of Nourish + Bloom, the first African American-owned autonomous grocery store in the world. The new store processes transactions using computer vision equipment in tandem with artificial intelligence-based voice and gesture technology. Nourish + Bloom offers delivery service using robotic vehicles supplied by Daxbot.{{Cite web|title=Inside the first Black-owned autonomous grocery store|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/inside-the-first-black-owned-autonomous-grocery-store-133338693515|access-date=2022-02-23|website=NBC News|language=en |date=February 16, 2022}} That startup, which is based in Philomath, Oregon, and raising investments through a crowdfunding campaign, has developed a unit that can travel up to 10 miles at 4 mph and has a temperature-controlled cargo space.{{Cite web|title=Retail startup opens first frictionless grocery store, eyes 500 more|url=https://www.grocerydive.com/news/retail-startup-opens-first-frictionless-grocery-store-eyes-500-more/618253/|access-date=2022-02-23|website=Grocery Dive|language=en-US |first=Sam |last=Silverstein |date=February 3, 2022}}

File:Delivery robot of Starship Technologies crossing the Suur-Ameerika street in Tallinn (Spring 2022).webm (Spring 2022)]]

In January 2019, Amazon launched an experimental service to deliver small packages to their Amazon Prime customers using delivery robots called Amazon Scout. The test was done in Seattle region and expanded to Irvine California, Atlanta, and Franklin in Tennessee.{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Dalvin |title=Meet Scout: Amazon is taking its Prime Delivery Robots to the South |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/07/22/amazon-taking-its-scout-delivery-robots-south/5485106002/ |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=USA Today |date=22 July 2020}} In 2021, after testing of package delivery robots had been done in 4 U.S. cities, Amazon created a new development center in Finland to make further advancement in the technology in order for their robots to better handle real-life navigations.{{cite news |last1=Shead |first1=Sam |title=Amazon plans to build delivery robot tech in Finland 放屁|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/01/amazon-plans-to-build-scout-delivery-robot-tech-in-finland.html |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=CNBC |date=1 July 2021}} The company cancelled Amazon Scout in January 2023.{{Cite news |title=Jiahao Lim on LinkedIn: It's been a week since Amazon Scout was canceled. I've worked on Scout… {{!}} 21 comments |url=https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jiahao-lim-3022937a_its-been-a-week-since-amazon-scout-was-canceled-activity-7024510126346670080-D6En |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=www.linkedin.com |language=en}}

File:TUG hospital delivery robot at UPMC.webm]]

Delivery robots can perform several tasks in hospital settings to reduce operational costs. The first set of tasks are for food, medical specimens, and medicine deliveries. With multiple sensors, the delivery robots can navigate the interior layout of the hospitals. They also have an electronic signal that can request an elevator ride to be able to work in multi-story buildings. With security concerns, some delivery robots are equipped with code and a biometric fingerprint scan to prevent unauthorized access to the contents inside the robots. {{As of|2019}} there were more than 150 hospitals in the United States and elsewhere that deployed the delivery robots. The second set of tasks is to deliver soiled linen carts and medical waste. These requires heavy duty delivery robots as the weights to carry could be in several hundred pounds (several hundred kilograms).{{cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Althea |title=Pricy robots 'Tug' hospital supplies |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/30/pricy-robots-tug-hospital-supplies.html |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=CNBC |date=30 April 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Weiner |first1=Stacy |title=Robots make the rounds |url=https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/robots-make-rounds |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=Association of American Medical Colleges |date=12 July 2019}}

In Israel, Sheba Medical Center uses delivery robots to shuttle chemotherapy drugs prepared by the pharmacy department directly to the nurses to cut down the waiting time.{{cite news |last1=Jeffay |first1=Nathan |title=Drug-delivery robots deployed at Israel's largest hospital to cut chemo wait |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/drug-delivery-robots-deployed-at-israels-largest-hospital-to-cut-chemo-wait/ |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=The Times of Israel |date=9 July 2012}}

File:Yolanda, a room service robot at Yotel in Singapore, navigates from lobby to guest room.webm in Singapore, navigates from lobby to guest room]]

In late 2014, a room service robot named Relay was introduced by a robotics startup company, Savioke. When hotel staff received an order from a guest, the staff would put items inside Relay and the robot would deliver items to the guest room. By 2016, fleets of Relay robots were deployed at five major hotel chains.{{cite news |last1=Nichols |first1=Greg |title=This room service robot is gaining ground in the world's posh hotels |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/watch-out-hotel-workers-this-robot-could-disrupt-room-service/ |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=ZDNet |date=14 January 2016}} In August 2017, M Social hotel in Singapore introduced room service robots named AURA to assist staff in tasks such as delivering bottled water and towels to guest rooms. It was the first such service outside of the United States.{{cite news |last1=Street |first1=Francesca |title=Introducing AURA, the room service robot |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/singapore-room-service-robot-aura/index.html |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=CNN |date=15 August 2017}}

A number of companies are actively using small robots to do the last-mile delivery of small packages such as food and groceries just using the pedestrian areas of the road and travelling at speed comparable with a fast walking pace, companies actively delivering include:

File:MGL0333.jpg]]

• Starship Technologies: by June 2023 had completed over 5 million commercial autonomous deliveries with their fleet of 2,000 autonomous robots. {{Cite web |last=Mukherjee |first=Supantha |date=June 21, 2023 |title=Estonia's Bolt, Starship in food delivery robot deal |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/estonias-bolt-starship-food-delivery-robot-deal-2023-06-21 |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=Reuters |language=en}}
• Amazon Scout: as of October 2022, Amazon is no longer testing their robots in the field as the project is being reoriented.{{Cite web |last=Vincent |first=James |date=2022-10-07 |title=Amazon stops field tests of its delivery robot Scout |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/7/23392360/amazon-disbands-delivery-robot-scout-development |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}}
• Hyundai Motor Group: on December 13, 2022, HMG announced that it had developed a delivery service robot based on electrification and autonomous driving technology.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

• Zipline: fixed-wing UAVs delivering medicine and blood supplies via parachute drops; by June 2022 they had made 325,000 deliveries.

{{further|Robot ethics}}

File:Hospital delivery robot having priority to elevators.jpg in relation to humans.]]

Being autonomous, the delivery robots primarily interact with the general public without the assistance of a human operator, in both positive and negative encounters.{{Cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Isobel Asher |title=People kicking these food delivery robots is an early insight into how cruel humans could be to robots |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/people-are-kicking-starship-technologies-food-delivery-robots-2018-6 |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} The delivery robot manufacturer Starship Technologies has reported that people kick their robots. However, the vast majority of human interactions are positive, and many people have anthropomorphized the robots due to their appearance.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-14 |title=Why You Want to Pet the Food Delivery Robot |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/why-food-delivery-robots-so-cute |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=Bon Appétit |language=en-US}} This has led to encounters where people feel a sense of caring towards the robots, assisting the robots when they are stuck, worrying for the robots on their journeys, or praising or thanking robots for their delivery service.

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{{Commons category-inline|Delivery robots}}

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Category:Uncrewed vehicles