ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Uber announced Thursday that it has begun activating food delivery robots for portions of Midtown, Downtown and Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta.
The move follows the implementation of robotic food delivery by other food-delivery businesses on the Georgia Tech campus.
“Think of these robots as a cooler on wheels,” said Uber Eats spokesperson Conor Ferguson.
Dozens of college campuses across America have been the training grounds for robotic food delivery. Now, companies are quickly moving into high-traffic urban areas, because sitting still isn’t an option.
“Autonomous technology is part of the future of delivery and the future of transportation,” Ferguson said.
Serve Robotics makes the robots. They are noticeably larger than most food delivery robots. That can be confusing.
“I thought it was an ice cream cart at first,” said Erica Brown, who stopped to check out the robots while eating at Rreal Tacos.
“This is good for delivery,” she added. “I mean, who else wants to just come out to the store? I just want my stuff delivered straight to my house.”
But there are the usual worries. There are the never-ceasing questions of: Will it take jobs? Will it run people over? How can something without actual eyes tell when it’s safe to walk into traffic?
“These robots will be able to tell, and then they will roll across the street,” Ferguson said.
Atlanta News First watched one robot, named Darcie, cross the streets of Midtown on numerous occasions without incident, other than turning heads. Serve Robotics says the robots can travel 30 miles on a charge.
Uber and Serve Robotics have spent the last several weeks mapping Atlanta neighborhoods. That mapping and the size of the sidewalks are key to good service.
“From a robot’s perspective, this is an absolutely beautiful sidewalk,” said Serve Robotics co-founder MJ Burk Chun.
Like Darcie, all the robots have names, fake eyes, and a “WALL-E” quality about them.
“Part of the personality of the robot is the fact that it has eyes,” Chun said.
However, food robots – as a whole – have had one bugaboo that’s tough to fix: snow and ice. That’s why Uber prefers warmer climates.
“Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami,” Ferguson said.
And now Atlanta.
You don’t have to have robots bring your food; it’s an option when ordering from Uber Eats. If desired, you can still opt for old-fashioned humans. But it’s not hard to see a future… where the robots rule the sidewalks.
“It worries me, but I see it happening,” Brown said.
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