"On her smartphone map, she watched the tiny dot scurrying toward her Fort Lauderdale address in real time. Then her phone buzzed with an alert: "Your food delivery robot is here!" Karla Joan Nelson-Thatcher raced downstairs to the sidewalk outside her Veneto Las Olas apartment and found, waiting near the front steps, what resembled a 3-foot-tall picnic basket on wheels with glowing Pac-Man eyes."
"It chirped, as did her phone: She scanned a QR code, the top lid unlocked and she grabbed the prize inside: a still-steaming order of dumplings from nearby Temple Street Eatery. "It was delivered at the perfect temperature," she said. "It was easy-peasy. I checked the box for the little robot to make delivery, and they even refunded my tip.""
Autonomous sidewalk robots are performing restaurant deliveries in Fort Lauderdale, tracked in real time via smartphone maps and accessed by QR codes. Residents retrieve orders from bassinet-sized carriers that signal arrival and unlock lids. Serve Robotics builds the robots and partners with Uber Eats to operate a ten-unit fleet that will expand into Wilton Manors and Dania Beach. Fort Lauderdale was selected for population density, sidewalk infrastructure, and Uber's local presence. Similar robots operate at Nova Southeastern University using DoorDash for Chick-fil-A and McDonald's. Deliveries reportedly arrive hot and convenient, sometimes with refunded tips.
Read at Sun Sentinel
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