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Autonomous delivery robots, once the exclusive purview of 1980s sci-fi movies, are coming to a city near you, with promises of reduced labor costs, increased efficiency and the reduction of cars.
But as robot fleets proliferate – Starship robots perform food deliveries for DoorDash and Postmates in Redwood City, California, and Washington DC, while Marble robots will begin making deliveries for Yelp Eat24 in San Francisco on Wednesday – the question none of these companies seems to want to answer is this: are these the sidewalks that we actually want?
Sidewalk-traversing robots are one of several possible solutions to the pesky problem of “last-mile” logistics. Venture capitalists have poured millions into startups employing an army of independent contractors to provide instant gratification to urbanites. But the humans in this equation remain a significant cost, and innovators are looking to obviate them with automated solutions.
Amazon, UPS and Google are all working on an airborne method, which certainly makes for splashy PR stunts. But in cities, ground-based delivery services are a more practical solution.
Somehow the prospect evokes Jawas lurking in the dark, ready to pounce on unsuspecting robots.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday April 18 2017, @08:50AM (1 child)
I doubt it would ever get that bad, because these machines would be easy pickins for parts harvesters with a taste for pizza or what ever.
Within a week they would all be sledge hammered hulks devoid of batteries and motors, with their tracking unit taped to the bottom of
some random police car.
We've covered this story on SN before about this same time last year [soylentnews.org] then again a few days later [soylentnews.org].
It was impractical then, and hasn't improved with age.
Let it go people...
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @07:36AM
Let it go people...
That's the problem: they never will. And thus they will make it reality, however dangerous or stupid it may be (e.g. iot).