Monday, June 12, 2017

Self-driving robots in Berkeley now delivering take-out food



If you are walking across the UC Berkeley campus this summer, you may notice a very small wheeled unattended vehicle scooting along next to you, with aromas of hamburger and onions or General Tsaos chicken trailing behind it. These diminutive robots are operated by a new tech startup, Kiwicampus, which aims to provide cheap fast food delivery to hungry students who are too busy studying to take time out to go out to eat. These self-propelled messengers may be a harbinger of a future in which machines take over more and more of the tasks of everyday life. Tom Herriman recently watched some of the robots in action and talked to Kiwi Campus CEO Felipe Chavez. (Photo: Sergio Pachon running robot field tests on Durant Street.)