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.”
YOOOOO I just helped a stuck food delivery robot on campus and it *THANKED ME* lmaoo the robot uprising is near@UHFoodie wassup pic.twitter.com/f1ipN3ARD0
— Mochrie (@Mochrie1713) November 24, 2019
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.
Campus robots delivered 2,500 orders in 1st week. pic.twitter.com/NT3Zmia21l
— Renu Khator (@UHpres) November 18, 2019
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.