Just Eat today announced the start of a trial of self-driving food delivery robots in Sunderland. They’ve partnered with 12 local restaurants to use them as test kitchens. Created by Starship Technologies, an Estonia-based company, these cutting-edge bots are designed to supplement staff during busy times and employee shortages. The trial is a major milestone in the incorporation of technology to the food delivery industry.
Fitted with high tech 360-degree LiDAR sensing cameras, the robots cruise around bustling streets and roads within Sunderland’s city centre. The design is pretty amazing, too, with six fat rubber wheels and a long pole ending in a bright orange flag that flashes. This distinctive appearance ensures they are highly visible to pedestrians and motorists alike. Just Eat would like these robots to work mostly during peak hours, giving extra help to human couriers.
Customers have been very positive, Peter Richardson, general manager of Koji — a restaurant on High Street West — said. They’re always complimentary about the food and service at his establishment. He stated, “If one day something did go wrong and drivers went, there you’ve got that back-up, so you can still get that food out.” This sentiment highlights how attitudes are shifting toward acceptance of robotic assistants within the food delivery industry.
As expected, the introduction of these robots has produced a divided response from local stakeholders. IWGB president Alex Marshall lambasted the decision as “dystopian.” Human Labor Replacement There has been huge skepticism on the part of Andrew Yang with regards to AI being used to replace human labor. Rachael Atkinson seconded these concerns, emphasizing that the robots could replace “most people’s jobs.”
Despite these concerns, Ahti Heinla, founder and chief executive of Starship Technologies, contends that the robots will not replace human jobs. He remarked, “I think there will be more and more both human couriers and delivery robots.” Heinla was clear that the robots don’t intend to replace current services, but want to augment them. He added, “Robots have a key role to play in the delivery of infrastructure to help meet the growing demand and certain routes will still require people to complete deliveries.”
This is how local resident Shaun Taylor shared his optimistic perspective on the Local Initiative Support Corporation’s Connecting Communities initiative. He argues that Sunderland is just “moving with the times” by bringing in these robots. And Eugene Murphy provided one of the most nuanced industry perspectives we heard. He understood the predictive power of technological breakthroughs but hesitated to believe these robots in reality were necessary.
Starship Technologies claims there is a worldwide shortage of couriers. These types of robots can further assist those that are less mobile or homebound. This trial in Sunderland is putting self-driving delivery robots to the test. It would lay the foundation for more widespread implementation in cities of all sizes.