When customers in downtown Vancouver placed orders with Pizza Hut in September, many of the pies landed on their doorsteps without a courier in sight.

Instead, diners were met by Angie, Hugo or Raja B次元官网网址� autonomous robots resembling a cooler on four wheels with eyelike lights. They travelled by sidewalk to customers, who used unique codes to open their lids and reveal their food.

The value proposition for Serve Robotics B次元官网网址� a spinoff of UberB次元官网网址檚 2020 food delivery acquisition Postmates that created the trio and a fleet of zero-emission robots B次元官网网址� is simple: with slim restaurant margins, a labour crunch and climate change worries B次元官网网址楤次元官网网址渨hy move a two-pound burrito in a two-ton car?B次元官网网址�

A handful of other robotic delivery companies have the same ethos, but their paths to ubiquity are facing several roadblocks.

Delivery robots have been banned from some major cities like Toronto, which argued they are a hazard for people with low mobility or vision, as well as seniors and children. Cyclists already gripe about e-scooters in bike lanes and donB次元官网网址檛 want robots there either.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e drawing a lot of attention from pedestrians while theyB次元官网网址檙e out on the sidewalk because theyB次元官网网址檙e not seeing them that often and people are excited to see them, but as usage continues to increase, this can cause a lot of congestion on already narrow sidewalks,B次元官网网址� said Prabhjot Gill, a McKinsey & Co. associate partner focused on retail.

ThereB次元官网网址檚 also worries autonomous robots or ones manned by staff overseas will take jobs away from couriers.

Ali Kashani, ServeB次元官网网址檚 Vancouver-bred chief executive, considers the criticism to be a natural part of innovation that even the bicycle experienced, when it was invented and many thought it would cause divorce.

HeB次元官网网址檚 tried to quiet concerns by ensuring his robots (Kashani wonB次元官网网址檛 say how many there are) chime and flash their lights to alert people they are around. They are equipped with automatic crash prevention, vehicle collision avoidance and emergency braking.

Ultimately, he thinks they are B次元官网网址渁 win-win for everybodyB次元官网网址� because they reduce traffic, boost local commerce and help merchants get food to consumers in a less expensive way.

The environment benefits too because Serve replaces delivery vehicles. Kashani estimates roughly half the deliveries made in the country cover less than 2.5 miles and 90 per cent are completed by car. About two per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are attributable to people using personal cars for local shopping and errands.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of reasons to replace our cars with these robots as quickly as we really can, but thereB次元官网网址檚 no reason for us to make anyone an enemy,B次元官网网址� Kashani said.

Knowing how much opposition new ideas can face, Serve is careful to engage with governments and authorities before launching in a city, even if it has no legislation allowing or banning robots.

However, David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, said thereB次元官网网址檚 no way for such robots and humans to coexist because they will always present a tripping hazard and worse, they could be used to transport contraband or explosives.

He insists the fight he and others have waged to keep robots off sidewalks is not an attack on innovation.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not like weB次元官网网址檙e denying people a service,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got a way to deliver pizzas that weB次元官网网址檝e had since weB次元官网网址檝e had pizza delivery. ItB次元官网网址檚 called human beings.B次元官网网址�

Manish Dhankher, Pizza Hut CanadaB次元官网网址檚 chief customer officer, agrees no pizza delivery is worth risking somebodyB次元官网网址檚 safety, but said his company only partnered with Serve once the robots had made thousands of injury-free trips.

Serve robots only made nearby deliveries for Pizza HutB次元官网网址檚 1725 Robson St. location for two weeks, but the pilot generated B次元官网网址渃hildlike excitementB次元官网网址� from customers and had a 95 per cent satisfaction rate.

Dhankher stresses the goal was modernizing pizza deliveries, not cost reduction. Couriers made the same number of deliveries they did before the robots were in use.

But Pizza Hut isnB次元官网网址檛 ready to roll out robots permanently.

B次元官网网址淲e want to learn more,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲hat happens when you put this in the snowy areas of Saskatchewan and what happens when there is freezing rain?B次元官网网址�

Another question: what happens when cities wonB次元官网网址檛 welcome the robots?

Tiny Mile, a company behind a series of pink, heart-eyed robots named Geoffrey, knows the answer.

Years after Geoffrey started making Toronto deliveries for delivery services like Foodora, Lepofsky and others argued people may be impeded by stopped or stalled devices or unable to quickly detect their presence.

TorontoB次元官网网址檚 city council voted last December to prohibit the devices that run on anything but muscle power from sidewalks, bike paths and pedestrian ways until the province implements a pilot project for such devices.

Geoffrey was then spotted in Ottawa before the city confirmed such robots arenB次元官网网址檛 permitted there either and Tiny Mile decamped from Canada completely.

B次元官网网址淲e almost went bankrupt,B次元官网网址� said Ignacio Tartavull, Tiny MileB次元官网网址檚 chief executive.

B次元官网网址淚t was basically a miracle we survived.B次元官网网址�

To keep Geoffrey alive, Tiny Mile headed to Florida and North Carolina.

B次元官网网址淚t was love at first sight,B次元官网网址� Tartavull said. B次元官网网址淲e spoke with cities and they were basically competing for us to go there.B次元官网网址�

He believes that adoration will spread as the cost of robot deliveries B次元官网网址� now roughly $1 B次元官网网址� sink to 10 cents in the next seven years.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 likely going to take a few years before we have it in the big cities but in the long term, itB次元官网网址檚 kind of undoubtable because the technology is here, it works and we can deliver on time and at a much lower cost,B次元官网网址� he said.

As for Serve, itB次元官网网址檚 focused on Los Angeles right now, but Kashani said its mission is to get five per cent of delivery vehicles off the road in the next five years.

B次元官网网址淏ut I definitely hope that if you fast forward one or two decades, these robots would be doing more local transportation of goodsB次元官网网址� so that we can not rely on cars.B次元官网网址�

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

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