It's official: Robots are delivering takeout food now
Though it can only travel 4 miles per hour...
Europe's largest online food delivery service just became the first company in the world to officially deliver takeout via robot, said Cara McGoogan at The Daily Telegraph. Just Eat, which is similar to GrubHub and Seamless in the U.S., recently made its first delivery in Greenwich, U.K., using a six-wheeled, self-driving trolley.
The robotic courier, built by Estonian company Starship Technologies, uses GPS, cameras, and sensors to navigate its environment, trundling along city sidewalks at speeds of up to 4 miles per hour. Customers receive a notification code on the Just Eat app to unlock the robot's compartment when it arrives. The company, which has tested robot delivery in more than 40 European cities, plans to bring robot delivery drivers to London later this year. It's a "move that long-term could see the number of human drivers employed by restaurants cut back."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will California's EV mandate survive Trump, SCOTUS challenge?
Today's Big Question The Golden State's climate goal faces big obstacles
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'Underneath the noise, however, there’s an existential crisis'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
2024: the year of distrust in science
In the Spotlight Science and politics do not seem to mix
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published