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Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

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Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#51

Post by r_klancer »

colechristensen wrote: post #36
r_klancer wrote: post #12

What's the business model here? It seems like delivery bots could only work on wide walking paths on closed campuses. Or are the startups here assuming we'll build dedicated infrastructure for them? I can't imagine they would ever work in real world cities (putting rolling roadblocks on busy public sidewalks is antisocial at best, and besides they're bound to get blocked by obstructions en route that require them to…

These little guys or very similar ones wander the sidewalks of Mountain View freely.

Interesting, I'm sure somebody has made a Youtube video of them. Only been to MV once and that was before these were around.

(EDIT: of course, there's also an East Coast/West Coast, or at least an old city/new city issue here. Based on your experience, can you imagine them working in NYC?)

Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#52

Post by amelius »

elteto wrote: post #10
djohnston wrote: post #2

It would be awesome if delivery robots had a built-in road rage mechanism that turned them into battle bots.

“Your delivery is delayed, our robot was electrocuted by another robot from a competing delivery company. You are important to us and we are working hard to get your delivery to you ASAP.”

"Sending camera footage of the attack to law enforcers ..."

Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#53

Post by Ekaros »

sharken wrote: post #23
_fullpint wrote: post #13

Absolutely hate these scooters from an ADA prospective. My neighborhood is a mostly quiet one near the center of a large city, where there are a lot of mothers who push their kids in strollers, older folks with canes, and some people even in wheelchairs. On the weekends -- sometimes the weekdays as well depending on the time of the year -- the city gets flooded with both tourists, and suburbanites who want to go to a…

Electric scooters have been heavily regulated where i live, helmet is now required and you have to leave them at designated locations. And a photo upload showing how it was parked is now also required. Oh, and Friday and Saturday between 00 and 05, you cannot use the scooters. It kinda makes me sad that we can't just let people use scooters as they please, but as you observe that isn't working. It was much the same w…

City bikes which have stations seem much better option. At least if run by city itself, higher installation cost, but means that they are much more orderly.

Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#54

Post by marricks »

djohnston wrote: post #2

It would be awesome if delivery robots had a built-in road rage mechanism that turned them into battle bots.

Imagine paying extra for your delivery robot to have a buzz saw or be wedge shaped to tackle other robots. On a college campus that would make a killing!

Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#55

Post by thepasswordis »

_fullpint wrote: post #13

Absolutely hate these scooters from an ADA prospective. My neighborhood is a mostly quiet one near the center of a large city, where there are a lot of mothers who push their kids in strollers, older folks with canes, and some people even in wheelchairs. On the weekends -- sometimes the weekdays as well depending on the time of the year -- the city gets flooded with both tourists, and suburbanites who want to go to a…

> Usually when I see this, I just knock the things over and push them out of the way.

So you make the problem worse?

Why don’t you take 2 minutes and push them to the side of the sidewalk if you care so much about ADA access? You can fix the problem you are encountering, and the people you want to protect CANT. You are choosing to make the problem worse for them? Why?

I live in a major downtown full of these scooters. When I see them blocking something, I just move them. Why is this so difficult? It takes such a tiny amount of effort to fix this problem you are describing. You live in a society, and it’s your responsibility to contribute.

Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#58

Post by fishtacos »

duxup wrote: post #46
nkrisc wrote: post #26

I understand this person is making a judgement on the state of mind of others, so it may not at all be accurate with regards to the people actually clearing the scooters, but I found this interesting nonetheless, that the author assumes this: > I just observed a couple of students clearing a path out of pity for the robots. I understand why people might feel pity for robots. People become attached to all sorts of ina…

I think the we're all sympathetic to the idea that one person's carelessness creates an impossible problem for someone else. >Don't donate free labor to corporations. That's absurd, someone takes two seconds to move an object so someone else can get their food on time. That's just being a good human rather that sweating about "free labor to corporations" first.

>>That's absurd, someone takes two seconds to move an object so someone else can get their food on time. That's just being a good human rather that sweating about "free labor to corporations" first.

Someone who can afford a robot delivery can afford a human delivery for an extra 50 cents, or learn from this situation to not use that company again because they use robots and robots... suck, or further incentivizes the delivery company to hire humans instead of destroying what is already a poorly paid and scarce economy of delivery drivers.

All wins in my book.

Re: Difficult situation on campus: traffic jam of food delivery robots

#59

Post by fishtacos »

avg_dev wrote: post #32
nkrisc wrote: post #26

I understand this person is making a judgement on the state of mind of others, so it may not at all be accurate with regards to the people actually clearing the scooters, but I found this interesting nonetheless, that the author assumes this: > I just observed a couple of students clearing a path out of pity for the robots. I understand why people might feel pity for robots. People become attached to all sorts of ina…

I suspect it’s more like pity for the people whose delivery was held up.

If one is engaged in a protest, the inconvenience of having food delivered to a random person via robots is the least of their concerns.

Seems like a silly hilly to fight on.

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