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'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

bbc.com

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Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#41

Post by Hizonner »

exmadscientist wrote: post #20
solid_fuel wrote: post #4

I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and he hates encountering these things in the wild. I know there's a couple different companies making these things and I'm not sure if they all behave like this, but they take up the whole sidewalk and won't backup or turn to get out of the way. Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the cu…

Robots that cannot share sidewalks with humans, including humans in wheelchairs, should be banned from sidewalks. Full stop. End of discussion. They can use the streets proper if they want to. I'm sure there is some way to formalize that using ADA sidewalk requirements or something similar.

> They can use the streets proper if they want to.

How about no? They'll block traffic there, too.

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#42

Post by viccis »

iberator wrote: post #8
Avicebron wrote: post #2

They had these in Berkeley when I was there, my thought was always, why aren't the homeless hunting these for food?

Because it's a crime? A major issue for the homeless is not food but shelter and storage. In this case risk vs reward it crazy low

Guessing you haven't spent time in the Bay Area if you think "because it's a crime" is a deciding factor in these decisions.

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#43

Post by nh43215rgb »

101008 wrote: post #39

I am not from the US so I would never encounter one, but what happens if you kick them / hurt them / destroy them? Do they have a recording camera that would show you did it?

Yes. Autonomous delivery vehicles and sidewalk delivery robots are equipped with multiple high-definition cameras. If an incident—such as a collision, vandalism, or theft—occurs, the vehicle's surveillance systems or navigational cameras will have captured exactly what happened.

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#44

Post by slyall »

Grombobulous wrote: post #24
exmadscientist wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robots that cannot share sidewalks with humans, including humans in wheelchairs, should be banned from sidewalks. Full stop. End of discussion. They can use the streets proper if they want to. I'm sure there is some way to formalize that using ADA sidewalk requirements or something similar.

I really don’t understand how a four wheeled self-driving powered vehicle is allowed to drive on the sidewalk when riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in that same city is illegal.

Because traffic laws work for cars and pedestrians. Anything else in between in fuzzy and hard to define or legislate

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#45

Post by Animats »

One of the first of those systems, Starship, tested in Redwood City for six months, almost a decade ago. A "safety driver" tagged along, about half a block behind, with some kind of controller. Their units were slow, rather dumb, and never reached deployment. Too early.

Sounds like they're now good enough to deploy and be annoying.

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#46

Post by xnx »

solid_fuel wrote: post #4

I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and he hates encountering these things in the wild. I know there's a couple different companies making these things and I'm not sure if they all behave like this, but they take up the whole sidewalk and won't backup or turn to get out of the way. Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the cu…

> won't backup or turn to get out of the way.

This seems surprising. As far as I know all these carts are controlled remotely in real time.

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#48

Post by solid_fuel »

xnx wrote: post #46
solid_fuel wrote: post #4

I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and he hates encountering these things in the wild. I know there's a couple different companies making these things and I'm not sure if they all behave like this, but they take up the whole sidewalk and won't backup or turn to get out of the way. Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the cu…

> won't backup or turn to get out of the way. This seems surprising. As far as I know all these carts are controlled remotely in real time.

I think it depends on the robot. The ones around here seem to be semi-automatic and seem to get taken over by a human when they're blocked, but it often takes 5 or 10 minutes before that happens.

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#49

Post by _doctor_love »

solid_fuel wrote: post #4

I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and he hates encountering these things in the wild. I know there's a couple different companies making these things and I'm not sure if they all behave like this, but they take up the whole sidewalk and won't backup or turn to get out of the way. Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the cu…

I worry that some enterprising person representing the delivery companies will find a way to make it so that if humans in wheelchairs block the path of the robots, then it's the humans who will have to yield.

It makes me think of that scene from The Man In The High Castle - "drag on the state."

Re: 'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

#50

Post by eloisius »

xnx wrote: post #46
solid_fuel wrote: post #4

I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and he hates encountering these things in the wild. I know there's a couple different companies making these things and I'm not sure if they all behave like this, but they take up the whole sidewalk and won't backup or turn to get out of the way. Instead they just sit there blinking and beeping at my friend, and of course in a wheelchair it's not easy (or safe!) to go over the cu…

> won't backup or turn to get out of the way. This seems surprising. As far as I know all these carts are controlled remotely in real time.

Remote controlled by people in faraway LCOL places where they may not understand or be trained on Western disability norms, but are certainly incentivized by how many deliveries they complete.
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