Robots among us
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 by Tai Moses
Photo courtesy of Avride.
The sidewalks of Austin may soon be buzzing with (more) cute little delivery robots, busily doing what robots do best: delivering pizza. In a partnership between Uber and robot-maker Avride, the robot fleet will be coming to the city later this month. When you place your order with Uber Eats, you’ll be given the option of having a robot make the delivery. The fully autonomous bots have six wheels, are weather-proof and promise not to collect private data; while they can “see” vehicles and traffic lights, their cameras are programmed to blur human faces and license plates. Up to six pizzas and three 1.5-liter bottles of your favorite beverage can fit in their hatch, which locks to deter any possibility of theft or other funny business. In other words, don’t mess with the bots.
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