Residents in our nation’s capital may have noticed a six-wheeled robotic device rolling through the sidewalks of D.C. in recent days. Fear not, because according to NBC4 Washington, there’s no need to call in a bomb threat.
In fact, this robot is one of the friendly ones, with no intentions (yet) of destroying humans. It’s a food-delivery robot from Starship Technologies, and a company spokesman told NBC4 that it’s currently testing a pilot program in Washington, D.C. to deliver meals from local restaurants.
According to the company website, the robot currently travels up to 4 mph on sidewalks (though it can go as fast as 10 mph) and holds up to three shopping bags, and can deliver within a three-mile radius in under 30 minutes. Users will receive a code which can unlock the robot and release the food.
This leads to the obvious question: Isn’t someone going to steal this robot and sell it for spare parts? Starship Technologies claims that the robot has traveled 15,550 miles to date and no one has tried to steal it. If you do, though, alarms will sound and on-board cameras will capture the perpetrators. Said the company: “It’s an embarrassing thing to get caught stealing.”