We are approaching an age where robots and AI are slowly becoming competent enough to replace humans. As hard as it is to accept, it's a concept that's slowly becoming a reality. One of the many differences between humans and robots is that the latter can't defend itself.
Robot Deliveries Encountering Trouble
There are no shortages of people who are willing to deliver food to houses, but businesses understand that using robots to deliver items may be more profitable in the long run, which is a sad reality. More companies are deploying delivery robots and it's slowly becoming a norm.
It appears that there is an ongoing issue with the service, particularly the robots being damaged or tampered with by the people who come across them. This is a complication not only for the company that owns the machines but the businesses that supply the food it's holding.
According to Interesting Engineering, videos have been surfacing online showing how people would forcefully open them to steal the contents. Other times, the robots were kicked just for the purpose of destroying the delivery robot.
Blu Jam Café General Manager, Steve Avila said that when the order is stolen, they have to remake the food and are reimbursed for the items that were replaced. He added that he can see how the companies can be hurt by the incidents, given that the robots seem expensive.
Serve Robots, one of the companies that supply the delivery bots, says that despite the viral videos showing how the robots are facing difficulties, they still have a 99.9% rate of successful deliveries. There are also protective measures in place to make it harder for people to vandalize the bots.
Starship Technologies found a way to deter potential vandals from damaging their automated delivery robots. When tampered with, a loud siren alerts people in the area and perhaps spooks the vandal. It is also equipped with 12 cameras which makes it hard to evade detection.
Robots in the Food Industry
Automated food services are not limited to delivery robots on the streets. Restaurants are also starting to purchase robots that can serve food from kitchen to table. Like the delivery bots, they can be cheaper to use, and they can solve labor shortages.
Robot waiters are already prevalent in countries like Japan, and the US is already following suit. Dean of the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership. Dennis Reynolds that there is no doubt in his mind that robot servers are where the world is going.
Still, robots will have to go through a lot of improvements before they replace humans. VP of a company that studies automation, Craig Le Clair says that "restaurants are pretty chaotic places," as mentioned in NY Post, so it would be hard to insert automation in a way that's productive.
Certain systems will have to be changed to accommodate automated servers. While that might be hard, it is possible, just like fast food kiosks that have streamlined ordering processes. Robots as servers are far from perfect, but developers are already working on it.
