Your Order is at Your Door, Compliments of Serve Robotics
I have been curious about the rather ubiquitous robotic delivery carts that have been frequenting South Park sidewalks over the last several years. One of the most prominent companies offering robot food delivery services is Serve Robotics. I enjoyed a great sit-down with Serve’s local representative, Vignesh Ran (call me Vigi) the other day to get a little history and insight on this operation that is rapidly growing in popularity in South Park.
Serve Robotics was formed as a delivery mechanism for the original Postmate in 2017. The concept was born out of the realization that it was silly to use a 2,000-pound automobile to deliver a 20-ounce burrito. The idea grew with Postmate until the company’s take-over by Uber Eats in 2019.
Serve Robotics resulted from the spin-off of the robo cart business by Uber Eats. While autonomous from Uber Eats, Serve robo carts spring into action when you make an order to your favorite eatery through Uber Eats. Vigi explained that while Serve gets the lion’s share of its delivery orders through Uber Eats, the company can and does seek direct delivery orders from many local restaurants. The delivery charge on your restaurant order is split between the restaurant and Serve. Whether you get your dinner from a human delivery person or Serve is up to the restaurant and the availability of robots at any one time. The delivery fee is similar to the fee charged for your delivery by a human. And…you don’t have to tip your robot!
Serve Robotics was recently listed on Nasdaq (NASDAQ: SERV) and is expanding rapidly. Currently the company operates in all areas of LA “from the beach to the valley.” Operations have recently commenced in Miami, Dallas, and Atlanta with more city openings planned. Serve has a fleet of “at least” 200 robots in their network and currently employs over 200 people.
A big question in my mind was how these little vehicles work! Vigi explained that each robot is programmed to be mostly autonomous. The vehicles use Lidar and six cameras to navigate (the same technology used to direct Waymo cars) and are programmed to go immediately to the restaurant address when called, almost without human direction, and then deliver directly to the door of the ordering party.
Should a problem arise, like a torn-up sidewalk in the programmed route or a fallen tree branch that impedes progress, a human controller is notified, and the robot is then redirected much like a drone. (There should never be a concern that the robot approaching you on the sidewalk will go rogue and attack you!) During high delivery times, robots are staged in the immediate area of user restaurants to speed pick-up times. The robot boxes are set up to hold cold items in the bottom of the bin and warm items on top. Insulated packaging provided by the restaurant is designed to keep hot things hot and cold things cold. When your order arrives, you will be advised and given a code to open the robot through your Uber Eats app. Pretty slick!
Over time, Serve has an eye on providing expanded services for delivery of “what have you”: your drug store needs, groceries, documents, etc. Perhaps in the near future you will be able to receive your Walmart purchases via Serve. This is a fledgling business idea with a big future!
By John Nilsson