Uber Eats Is Now Using Robots To Deliver Food

Uber Eats Is Now Using Robots To Deliver Food

The partnership with Serve Robotics is indeed designed for use in shorter trips. The sidewalk robots provided by Serve Robotics will be used in West Hollywood for short distances, while the self-driving cars will make longer-distance deliveries in Santa Monica, an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch. Both pilot programs will help the company decide how to best implement autonomous robots and vehicles into its operations at scale. “We’ll be able to learn from both of those pilots what customers actually want, what merchants actually want and what makes sense for delivery as we start to integrate our platform with AV companies,” said the spokesperson. These pilot programs are opt-in, meaning customers will have the choice at checkout to use an autonomous delivery robot or vehicle if they are within a supported area.

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Another partnership with Motional, an autonomous vehicle company that has retrofitted Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 robotaxis to be self-driving, will make autonomous deliveries possible in Los Angeles. These self-driving cars will deliver Uber Eats orders with the oversight of a human safety operator, who may take control of the vehicle when near the customer’s delivery location. Though Uber plans to charge delivery fees for autonomous deliveries, it might be tricky at first. Current California law requires companies to obtain a permit to charge delivery fees made using autonomous vehicles, which Uber currently does not possess, per TechCrunch. Additionally, the company will refund any tips made to autonomous robots, further lessening the cost of delivery. At least at the start of the pilot program, autonomous delivery could be a cheaper way to order food through Uber Eats and cut down the added fees.

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Source: Uber, TechCrunch

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