The first time Chicago resident John Roberts saw a delivery robot trundling down the sidewalk on his street he was impressed.
The report indicates that the first time Chicago resident John Roberts saw a delivery robot trundling down the sidewalk on his street he was impressed.
It further notes that “I actually thought they were kind of neat – it felt futuristic,” he says.
But his attitude began to change when he was soon after out for a walk with his family. As another robot approached, they found themselves having to dodge it.
“To us it felt a little off – the fact that we were on the one strip reserved for walking, and we were having to get out of the way,” says Roberts. “I started thinking about what it would be like for us to go for a walk as a family if there were dozens of robots with lights and cameras zipping around.”
The robots, more formally known as autonomous urban delivery vehicles, have started to appear on pavements in a number of cities across the US, plus in the UK, Japan, South Korea and Germany, transporting groceries and fast food, using cameras, sensors and GPS to navigate.
According to the companies operating them, they can reliably identify and avoid objects in the path, cross streets safely and react to their environment. The robots provide a useful service and help cut down on traffic and emissions, they claim.
However, some local authorities in the US and Canada, and members of the public, are less than enthusiastic. Bans have been put in place, and protests have been launched.
San Francisco has limited access to vehicles in less busy parts of the city, and Toronto has prohibited robots from using sidewalks since 2021.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the machines have now been banned from two small areas of the city.
Roberts wants the robots to be suspended across all of Chicago until safety tests are carried out and clear rules are set for their use. He has launched a petition calling for this, and so far, it has around 4,400 signatures.
People frequently find themselves having to step into the street in order to get out of the machines’ way, says Roberts.
“There have been reports of collisions and injuries. I saw one a few days ago where somebody had been struck by one of the robots’ safety flags, which is a little ironic,” he says. “We’ve got reports of robots causing issues with traffic, blocking emergency vehicles because they’re acting erratically at crosswalks.”
Similar concerns have emerged in Glendale, California, where the local council is considering a temporary ban on the use of the vehicles. Councillors say the robots appeared without warning, and at first they didn’t even know which company was supplying them.
“What triggered the concern and the discussion was a number of factors,” says Coun Ardy Kassakhian. “The increased visibility of the robots in the downtown, and the question about accessibility and pedestrian movement on our public sidewalks.
