‘The robot uprising is near’: UH food delivery robot appears to thank man who helped free it, video shows

A well-mannered autonomous delivery robot stuck on the sidewalk surprised the man who came to its rescue.

When a passerby walking down the street spotted the little white delivery robot stuck on the sidewalk, he picked it up and freed it. Then, to the man’s shock, the robot seemed to turn to him and said “thank you.”

The man shared his experience on Twitter. He said “lmaoo the robot uprising is near.”

The WALL-E-esque machine belongs to a fleet of 30 Starship Technologies robots designed to roam around the University of Houston campus, delivering late-night eats, coffee and groceries to busy university students, faculty and staff for a $1-2 delivery fee.

UH rolled out the self-driving robot fleet in Fall 2019.

The robots delivered 2,500 orders during the first week they were on campus, UH President Renu Khator said in a tweet.

The robots are deigned to deliver food on campus within a 3 mile radius. They use GPS and Computer vision to pinpoint their location. They’re also outfitted with cameras, sirens and microphones so personnel overseeing the robots can engage with people near the robots while they are out and about delivering orders.

Click here for more information on the food deliver program.


About the Author:

Briana Zamora-Nipper joined the KPRC 2 digital team in 2019. When she’s not hard at work in the KPRC 2 newsroom, you can find Bri drinking away her hard earned wages at JuiceLand, running around Hermann Park, listening to crime podcasts or ransacking the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble.