'This is the future': Austin restaurants use robot delivery in Mueller neighborhood
AUSTIN (KXAN) --- What if your food delivery came via a robot?
Some restaurants in Austin turned to artificial intelligence to help find cost-effective solutions to meet the rising demand for delivery services.
Austin-based company Avride is behind the autonomous delivery robot seen around the Mueller neighborhood.
"They can detect other objects, pedestrians, bicycles, cars, assess their speeds, distances to them, and plan their route accordingly," said Avride's Head of Communications Yulia Shveyko.
Shveyko said the robots will slow down before crossing the street and will yield to cars.
"Robots are technically not pedestrians," Shveyko said. "So they have to give right away to all other kinds of traffic they meet other these are pedestrians, bicycles, motorbikes or cars."
'It is more profitable'
The company has partnered with restaurants like Colleen's Kitchen.
"When we need to deliver the order, we simply press a button, place it in there, and then they're off. It is seamless."
Ashley Fric, owner of Colleen's Kitchen
It's helped them keep up with delivery demands while saving money.
"Deliveries have really increased," Fric said. "So we cannot as a small business, afford to have staff and insurance to do our own deliveries and utilizing the robots is wonderful. It is more profitable."
Fric said there is a fee that guests pay for the delivery, but she said it often costs less than other services.
The robots even rode around in severe weather. Fric said that helped keep her staff safe.
"When we had bad weather a few weeks ago, the robots were out there delivering in the hail and the high winds and nobody was at risk," Fric said.
According to a recent survey by international firm, Deloitte, nearly half of Americans are open to ordering food from a restaurant that delivers using drones or autonomous vehicles.
"Restaurant owners, they already understand this is the future. This is the exactly right moment to jump on this train of autonomous delivery."
Yulia Shveyko, Avride's Head of Communications
Avride said right now, it has 10 robots roaming the streets of Mueller. It's a sight people in the area have grown accustomed to.
The company hopes to expand to more neighborhoods throughout the city.