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Surur t1_is5cz38 wrote

Are these bots actually active anywhere? I've seemed them trialled for years, but never rolled out anywhere except maybe on campuses.

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fsu_ppg t1_is5htpm wrote

You can see them rolling around West Hollywood.

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el_gee OP t1_is5d6tq wrote

I wanted to try one so I looked them up last month and it was, like you say, very limited.

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xXCatWingXx t1_is5o7fy wrote

I have them at my college campus. Believe me they are very limited with their abilities and will be a while before they take over the entire delivery workforce. They have limited distance, often get stuck on objects on the sidewalk, get stuck trying to cross the street. I’ve had to save many of the little guys who drove into bushes. One even drove into me as I was going past on a skateboard and knocked me off. They’re fun and cute but not the most effective thing ever.

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xXCatWingXx t1_is5odwz wrote

Also the college students, myself included, always try to ride them around by sitting on the back.

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Pimp_Daddy_Patty t1_is604hk wrote

Contrary to what many say, automation is stupid expensive and ridiculously complex. People are still needed to service these machines, maintain them and make sure they're actually doing their job. It may replace the quantity of workers needed to do the job, but the quality of worker required to keep these thing running goes way up.

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Kod_Rick t1_is5jgtj wrote

They were in Modesto, California a few years ago. I think they shut it down, though.

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[deleted] t1_is5yxwm wrote

They were active in Toronto for like a week until they got banned because people don't want them taking up the already limited sidewalk space. We either need to massively increase the width of sidewalks or make them go in bike lanes and have double width bike lanes everywhere in their service area. If these are going to be a thing, it requires reclaiming road space from cars.

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Surur t1_is6bovo wrote

Instead of "reclaiming road space from cars", just make them big enough for passengers and there you have your self-driving taxi.

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[deleted] t1_is6g8qy wrote

I don't think people want to ride a taxi that only goes at a walking speed.

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Surur t1_is6i7ep wrote

Sounds like you have identified the one problem which needs fixing. Around 15 mph should be fine.

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incominghottake t1_is5pxbg wrote

They are active in LA but they are for short trips. Less than 2 miles. They also have to pay workers to drive them remotely.

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[deleted] t1_is698nl wrote

Big cities are about the only viable places they can work. If it requires an actual road for delivery forget it.

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