Robots de entrega Serve: Disculpas públicas en Chicago

Two delivery robots sit parked near a recent advertisement on a CTA bus shelter at West Grand Avenue and North Racine Avenue with an apology from Serve Robotics after one of its delivery robots broke through a glass panel on that bus shelter last month. The ad comes almost a month after a Serve Robotics delivery robot named Nasir crashed into a bus stop near North Racine and West Grand avenues, breaking one of its glass panels. The ad reads: “Dear West Town neighbors, I took ‘breaking into the market’ too literally. I’m really sorry about the bus stop … and the dramatic entrance. I promise to do better.” It features a photo of the sheepish robot with a digital screen saying ‘Nasir is sorry.’ After the incident, Serve Robotics worked with JC Decaux, the advertising company that built the shelter, to clean up the damages. The shelter was fixed within a few days after the crash. We took out the ad to apologize directly to our West Town neighbors, own the mistake, and share Serve’s commitment to continuously improving our technology. The company said the crash occurred after all three of the robot’s sensor systems failed to detect the shelter’s clear glass wall. Serve added that it has improved how the system interprets glass environments and is updating its software and next-generation hardware to “make detection more reliable.” Though the incidents are rare, “rare isn’t good enough,” Serve said. “We want it to be zero.”