Are food delivery robots the future of food delivery?

Hey there, delivery riders!

As you may have seen in your home countries as well, food delivery robots have recently appeared on the streets and have executed their first food deliveries!

What are food delivery robots?

Food delivery robots are robots trained to pick up meals and deliver it instead of a human delivery driver. They are designed in a way that allows them to manage curbs, rain, snow, and crosswalks.

You can follow them on your smartphone, and they can go up to four miles per hour at their top speed. Moreover, the robot may occasionally be able to move through a building's elevators and halls.

Why are food delivery robots needed?

Customer’s desire for faster delivery is the main reason of why food delivery robots are needed.  Moreover, most food delivery companies struggle with workforce shortage and don’t have enough food delivery riders delivering for them. The labour shortage is one of the main reasons of why some deliveries are taking way longer than expected.

Advantages of using food delivery robots

1. Robots are faster

A standard delivery might be delayed for a number of reasons, including heavy traffic, bad weather, etc. A robot can maneuver and find its way through any space. They are fitted with a 360-degree camera, which enables them to observe and securely navigate any barriers in order to deliver meals.

2. Pollution reduction

As there are more robots on the road, there are significantly higher chances that there will be fewer delivery vehicles on the road. Currently, most of the traffic on our highways is made up of delivery drivers. This will assist cut greenhouse gas emissions and have a favorable impact on limiting the amount of pollution in major metropolitan areas.

3. Level of safety of food delivery

Robots are constructed with lockable food containers, preventing unauthorized access to the food. Additionally, they have an alarm installed that sounds if someone tries to take either the food or the robot. When the robot arrives, the restaurant provides the client a link or a passcode, that they must click or input to unlock the meal.

4. Minimized risk of transmitting any diseases

During COVID19 the world adjusted to contactless payments and deliveries, and many customers are sticking to these services even now. Reducing human contact between the delivery person and the customer will prevent the contraction of any diseases. Hence, in case of any future pandemic the restaurants will continue to be in business and keep customers happy.

Disadvantages of using food delivery robots

1. Loss of human touch

Since human touch is so important, robots shouldn't be utilized in lieu of people. People have a tendency to become connected to robots, which might lead to a lack of human contact and perhaps heighten human empathy for robots. Long-term effects on interpersonal connections may result from this.

2. Laws regarding robots have to be revised

When it comes to ethical and legal issues concerning the rights of the robot, laws must be created. Should robots have the same rights as pedestrians, for instance?

3. Robots can carry a limited size of orders

Due to their small dimensions, the robots can't store a lot of food inside their compartments. They are therefore mostly practical for a single delivery. Anything beyond that will require human drivers solely, such as delivering huge food orders for a customers or picking up several deliveries at the same time.

4. People will loose their jobs

Many food delivery couriers depend upon delivering food as their main source of livelihood. Hence, with the advancement of robots, workers would be put into a tough position and would have to look for new means of income.

While food delivery robots definitely have their advantages and can escalate the quality of food delivery services to a new level, they definitely have their downsides as well. 

The questions is: can food delivery people and food delivery robots work at the same time or the battle between humans and robots have to be settled in the field of food delivery?