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San Francisco To Restrict Goods Delivery Robots (bbc.com)

San Francisco officials have voted to restrict where delivery robots can go in the city, in a blow for the burgeoning industry. From a report: Start-ups will have to get permits to use such bots, which will be restricted to less crowded urban areas. Opponents are concerned about the safety of pedestrians, particularly elderly people and children. Walk San Francisco, a group that campaigns for pedestrian safety, wanted a complete ban. A range of companies have begun trialling small robots that can deliver food and other goods. They use sensors and lasers in a similar way to self-driving cars in order to navigate their routes. Robotics company Marble - which describes its machines as "friendly, neighbourhood robots" - began testing in San Francisco earlier this year.

3 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Just keep them off the sidewalks by mspohr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Having a bunch of motorized wheeled vehicles driving around on the sidewalks is a bad idea. Even if they don't hit anyone, they will create congestion and confusion.
    Confine them to the streets.

    --
    I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
  2. Delivery bots will be a boon to self-driving cars by trenobus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Delivery bots use much of the same hardware and software as self-driving cars, but have market pressures toward lower cost. If they are mass-produced, this will bring down the cost of self-driving cars to the point where even economy cars can be self-driving. Also the AI problem that delivery bots face is arguably more difficult than a self-driving car, in that pedestrian traffic is much less regulated. So they might also drive advances in machine learning from which self-driving cars will benefit.

    On the other hand, if delivery bots start injuring a lot of people, the backlash may extend to self-driving cars as well.

  3. Re:Well no surprise here... by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What the fuck are you talking about? The Dutch bought New York for some glass beads and a couple blankets. Maybe the Indians should have asked for a little more, but it was perfectly legal.

    No, what the Dutch bought was access to New York.

    What happened is like if you went to Disney World and bought a day pass, then claimed that your ticket was a deed to the land and forcibly took over the whole park.