Chicago city council starts delivery robot pilot

Chicago’s city council has given the go-ahead for a pilot allowing delivery robots to use its pavements for making deliveries around the city.

The University of Illinois Chicago pilot began by allowing Starship delivery robots to operate on its campus in 2021. The university has approached the city council to allow it to trial the robots on city streets outside of the campus. Alongside Starship, other delivery robot companies like NIO will also be allowed to apply for Emerging Business Permits too.

The city is to only allow the delivery robots to operate in certain areas so they do not use the whole of the city as a testbed. Amongst other things, Chicago city council will consult those with impaired mobility as to how they interact with the robots and whether they impede their use of the city streets. At the same time they will be consulted as to whether they can use the robots for deliveries too.

“For example, if someone in the accessibility community wants to be able to order food, is there a way for the device to open up if someone is, let’s say, visually impaired?” Kenneth Meyer, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection.

Vandalism of the robots is another issue. Weighing in at under 30kg the Starship robot can be picked up but lets off a siren if this is done. Its doors are locked and only accessible via a one-time passcode but these could be broken into. Starships also have cameras used for navigation and security and direct links to a control centre so alerts can be given should they be attacked.

Amanda Howell, a researcher with the Urbanism Next Center at the University of Oregon who has looked at the impact of delivery robots in other cities across the US said, “The reality of our streets is so much more complicated, and the reality of urban life is so much more complicated, than the closed testing environments that some of these robots have been on,” she said. “[Robots are] another thing that we’re introducing onto our limited infrastructure.”

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