A four-wheeled delivery robot rolls down Miami’s sidewalks, turning heads as people stop to watch and take photos. It relies on cutting-edge sensors and a lidar scanner to detect nearby objects allowing it to navigate safely at speeds of up to 11 miles per hour.
“I was coming out of Publix when I saw a line of robots,” said Yudidx, a retired dentist who was visiting Miami and who asked to be identified by only her middle name. “I walked over and said, ‘Wow, you’re cute,’ and it responded [with a message on a screen], ‘Thank you.’ My reaction was ‘Ay Dios mío!’” She added, laughing, “I couldn’t believe it actually talked to me. It’s kind of adorable.”
Companies like Serve Robotics, Coco Robotics, Starship Technologies, Pinkbot, and Wing are leading the rise of autonomous delivery operating in Florida. The sidewalk has become a shared space for robots, designed to blend in as naturally as possible with pedestrians.
“We wanted to make robots that fit into the human world, not the other way around,” said Aduke Thelwell, Head of Investor Relations and Communications at Serve Robotics. “The robot’s face, the lights, even the way it moves, all of that was intentional with human interaction in mind.”
“We’ve worked hard to design the robot so it’s a good neighbor on the sidewalk,” she added.
Serve Robotics declined to disclose how many robots are operating in Miami, but said the number of robots it operates nationally is skyrocketing; the company deployed its 1,000th robot in October and is aiming to double that number by the end of year.
Florida law permits delivery robots to use sidewalks statewide, but municipalities can put additional requirements in place. Currently, delivery robots are rolling along in Miami Beach, Brickell, Coral Gables, Wynwood and Coconut Grove, among other places.
Every robot has a characteristic that makes it stand out — a name. Serve Robotics wanted each robot to become part of the community, as diverse as the cities where they roam, and let each one have a bit of personality of its own. Farnoosh, Divina, Paul, Gigi, and Jess are the names of just a few of them cruising Miami’s sidewalks.
“We have more than a few robots named after babies, uncles, retired team members, you name it,” said Thelwell. “We try to avoid celebrity names for obvious reasons, so you won’t see a ‘Beyonce’ robot anytime soon.”
Behind the scenes
Delivery robots operate autonomously but are supervised by trained remote operators. In certain situations, operators can intervene using a controller to help guide the robot safely.
“Our robots…are routinely navigating without human intervention, and can rely on input from multiple sensors to ensure safe operation,” said Thelwell. “We do also have trained supervisors who oversee the robot when it’s unclear what it’s looking at, or at safety-critical moments.”
The robots know when to ask for help. Passers by, often fascinated by the robots, occasionally step in to help when delivery vehicles appear stuck or uncertain of their next move. But the robots also can raise their hands digitally to signal the home office for help. A remote operator then steps in, looks through its cameras and guides the vehicle on its path.
Rain or shine, these robots don’t stop
Sidewalks can be unpredictable, so the robots are built to be cautious. If something unexpected happens, their brake system kicks in, stopping them instantly, and letting cars and people go first. The delivery robot uses cameras, sensors and lidar scanners — which use pulsed lasers to measure distances and create precise 3D models of the surrounding environment — to detect and avoid obstacles.
“Our robots operate rain or shine,” said Thelwell. “If there’s something as big as a hurricane or tornado, we pause operations, but our robots are out there facing the elements seven days a week.”
Miami’s robobaddie
The well-known Asian restaurant Sexy Fish located on South Miami Avenue owned by the London-based luxury hospitality group Caprice Holdings, partnered with Pinkbot to design something truly unique — the hottest delivery robot around.
The restaurant uses the robot not only for deliveries but also as a marketing tool to promote events and draw attention. During the Halloween season, it was decorated to look like the golden fish that adorn the restaurant and rolled through Brickell, inviting people to spot it and share photos on social media. Sexy Fish didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Robots are going to school
And as if that weren’t enough, delivery robots have now made their way onto college campuses. Their mission is to redefine the traditional delivery model.
Starship Technologies makes cooler-sized delivery robots that have completed over 9 million deliveries and are now operating at over 60 college campuses. In Florida, the company’s robots can be found at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
“Most on-campus merchants were unable to offer deliveries due to the challenges of navigating campuses with traditional delivery methods,” said a Starship representative. “So robots bring convenience to these campus communities.”
The robots haven’t reached Miami’s college campuses yet. But Starship recently raised $50 million from investors who see potential in its expansion, so that bringing the service to new areas isn’t off the table.
“We don’t have a definitive list of upcoming cities or campuses,” said the representative. “Our recent funding will accelerate our expansion into more urban areas and college campuses.”
Human vs Robots
While delivery robots keep rolling, not everyone is a fan.
Multiple videos posted by Only in Dade on Instagram show incidents involving delivery robots in Brickell, including a clip of a man trying to throw a robot off a bridge but failing to do so, and a Pinkbot delivery robot blocking an ambulance, testing the patience of Miami drivers. In Coral Gables, city officials are debating new rules after complaints that robots block the sidewalks, and in Miami Beach, residents raised noise concerns before a planned city vote was postponed in October.
While the robots are continuing to evolve and if seeing them more frequently on the streets is already causing a stir, don’t be surprised when your next home delivery meal comes flying from the sky carried by a drone…
