You may start to notice new workers roving around the sidewalks of the Logan Circle area of D.C. These four-wheeled Coco Robots are taking on the deliveries that other drivers don鈥檛 want to.
Coco went into operation in the D.C. neighborhood this past month and has been hustling to get hungry people their orders from Beau Thai. The bots carry everything from pizza to groceries and ice cream.
鈥淐oco is here to make delivery more sustainable, affordable, cost-effective and efficient for local merchants and their customers,鈥� said Carl Hansen, vice president of government relations at Coco.
These robots are limited to a 2 mile zone where they can deliver. They come with insulated compartments to keep food either hot or cold. Hansen said these little bots are not designed to replace delivery workers, just supplement them.
鈥淲e take the local portion of orders. They鈥檙e the shorter distance trips. Those tend to be a smaller basket size 鈥� so tips are lower. Delivery workers generally don’t like those, so they get the better trips, and we’re here to supplement it,鈥� Hansen said, adding they want food to be there within 30 minutes.
The robot can travel only up to 5 mph and matches the walking speed of pedestrians in front of it. There’s also a virtual safety buffer that surrounds the bot, meaning that if a pedestrian steps within a certain distance, its top speed starts to reduce, and if someone gets too close, the bot will stop altogether.
Once it arrives at its destination the customer unlocks it directly from their phone, takes their grub and the Coco bot then returns to the restaurant where it is stationed.
Before Coco arrives in any neighborhood, the sidewalks are meticulously mapped to ensure the bot can easily get around, avoiding or maneuvering over uneven surfaces, potholes and curbs. And with censors on each bot, the maps are constantly updating.
“Even a temporary obstruction, if a tree branch falls and is blocking the sidewalk, or a scooter falls over and is blocking the sidewalk, our bot will get rerouted around the obstruction,鈥� Hansen said. 鈥淭he obstruction’s added to our map, so the next Coco won’t hit the same obstruction.鈥�
Coco is even sharing this mapping data with an app called Blind Square, a navigation tool for the blind and visually impaired community.
鈥淚f Coco sees that fallen over scooter, we can send that immediately to the Blind Square app. A Blind Square user gets an auditory alert on their phone,鈥� Hansen said.
While movies and TV shows have depicted people messing with these futuristic food deliverers, Hansen said it’s uncommon for their bots to be vandalized, though not unheard of.
鈥淧eople seem less inclined to tamper with something that’s actively being controlled. There’s an alarm on it, and the little bots can wander away. We know immediately if something has gone wrong,鈥� Hansen said.
Coco currently is just operating near Logan Circle, but Hansen said they will be expanding operation across D.C. in the near future.
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