Autonomous delivery bot brings lunch orders

A new delivery bot is here to bring you lunch. But this one has three wheels and travels on its own from the restaurant to your address. Oh, and it also rides in the bike lane. That’s different.

Refraction AI launched lunch service in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Thursday with its fleet of REV-1 delivery robots only about a year after the company first formed. Its co-founders are robotics professors at the nearby University of Michigan.

The 5-foot-tall, 4.5-foot-long, and 30-inch wide device isn’t your average cutesy delivery bot that you trip over as it treks across college campuses delivering late-night snacks. The REV-1 is much more substantial at 100 pounds, and it can seriously move. Unlike smaller bots operating on sidewalks, Refraction’s bot reaches up to 15 mph. It can carry six bags’ worth of groceries or meals.

Refraction co-founder and CEO Matthew Johnson-Roberson said in a recent phone call that its bots operate in the “margins of the road.” The bike lane is a more forgiving space, he said. “Sidewalks are really hard,” he explained, as the pavement is “not built for robots, but for humans with legs.” The road can also handle REV-1’s wheels and bigger size.

Thursday’s launch is limited to a 2.5-mile zone in one city, with four local restaurants partnering with the robotics company to deliver food to customers.  But eventually Johnson-Roberson expects his bicycle-sized bot to be in more cities, helping human food delivery workers to shuttle meals straight from restaurants to customers.

After the pilot, the REV-1 process is expected to start in the mobile app, where payment and tracking will happen. A bot from a nearby hub will head to the restaurant, then restaurant partners will put food orders inside the robot’s main compartment. The bot takes to the streets and makes it curbside, where the customer comes out, types in a code, and opens up the compartment to take out the order. Lunch is served. 

Refraction takes a portion of the food order cost, but claims its lower cut at 15 to 20 percent will be noticeable to restaurant owners who work with other food delivery apps.

If you happen to be in Ann Arbor, you can start ordering food through Refraction’s pilot program. An iOS app is available on the App Store, but the company said early customers need to fill out this form to get the goods.