Last September, a Starship Technologies autonomous food delivery robot caused a school employee at Arizona State University to trip. According to a report by 404 Media, the employee asked for insurance information and received some promo codes from the company after the incident.
The police report confirmed the incident through video footage. The delivery robot first passed by the person, then reversed unexpectedly, knocking them over. It then drove a short distance away, reversed again, and hit the person while they were on the ground, causing lower back pain and a cut on their arm.
A company spokesperson stated to 404 Media that the robot hit the pedestrian at a very low speed after detecting an oncoming vehicle.
Additionally, 404 Media reported another incident where Starship Technologies initially decided not to press charges against two students who took a robot but later reversed that decision. There have also been previous issues with the robots encountering problems on construction sites or off campus.
Starship Technologies began testing its robot deliveries in Europe in 2016, reaching 1.5 million deliveries and operating on 20 campuses by 2021. The number grew to 50 campuses by late 2023, with over 6 million autonomous deliveries completed earlier this year.
In light of these incidents, insurance information and promo codes might be a reasonable gesture. In a similar incident, a woman was unable to obtain video footage from Starship Technologies after one of the robots collided with her car, causing $2,600 in damage (source).
