Korea:” Prudence, robot”! As it travels down the street to a Tokyo meat filet restaurant to pick up an order from Uber Eats, the natural self-driving delivery vehicle whistles.
The US-based food app, which hopes to eventually expand the service more widely in Japan, will start offering robot deliveries in a small portion of the city starting on Wednesday ( Mar 6 ).
Last year, the nation amended its traffic laws to allow delivery robots on public streets, despite the country’s growing labor shortages, and Panasonic and other businesses are also testing sweet fresh transportation devices.
Uber Eats ‘ shapeless computers use cameras to prevent pedestrians and other obstacles, and have flat headlights for the eyes and three wheels on each side to explore kerbs.
A human controller is on standby in case of trouble as the vehicle travels at up to 5.4 kilometers per hour and has flashing lights surrounding the cover.
The Tokyo robots may have a limited range at first, according to executive vice president of Uber Eats Alvin Oo, similar to the company’s self-driving delivery services that it launched in North America.
App users may wait outside for the machine to appear, he told AFP on Tuesday. However, one day it might knock on someone’s door.
According to Oo, marketplace operations director at Uber Eats Japan, “going all the way to the workplace floor, to the actual apartment… may be helpful in a place like high-rise Tokyo.”
The service might one day travel to remote areas, where drivers are scarce and many residents are old, he added.
Current drivers “do not need to worry,” Oo said, adding that “even in five, ten years ‘ time, there will always be work for the human delivery partners on the platform.”
Uber, a rideshare company, has long been criticized for breaking minimum wage and holiday give laws by claiming that its people are independent contractors rather than employees. Last month, Uber Eats and other related apps had strikes.
The Uber Eats computers, created with Mitsubishi Electric and US start-up Cartken, will initially provide food from only a few franchises in the active Nihonbashi area.
Users can accept or reject the offer if it is chosen for them, but they ca n’t choose a robot delivery service.
The machine almost collided with a motorist at a presentation on Tuesday, but it also attracted a lot of interest.
According to Akemi Hayakawa, it’s” so sweet, so eye-catching.”
The 60-year-old said,” I thought it might knock into people’s foot, but people gave way to it.”
” Japan has a significant labor shortage and an aged, dwindling population. Therefore, this is a pretty good plan for Japan as well.