The robot then made a long swoop to the left, scooting off down the sidewalk and swerving to avoid people. It's cute: a cross between the ruggedness of the Pixar character Wall-E and EVE's sleek white design. It came to a stop at a busy intersection as passersby pulled out their phones to take videos. A guy hung out his truck window and yelled, "What is that?"
Austin-based Avride — as in autonomous vehicle ride — launched its robot delivery service this week from two downtown Dallas restaurants, Salsa Limon and Bread Zepplin. The company has been working in other cities around the world and has made more than 200,000 successful deliveries.
"So, this isn't a pilot," says Yulia Shveyko with Avride. "It's an actual launch. We started testing in 2019 and are operating in various countries."
Uber Eats Simplicity
Avride works through the Uber Eats app. It's pretty simple: if you're within a robot's delivery area (right now, only downtown) when you place an order, you'll get a notification on the app that autonomous vehicles are available. If you're not inclined to have a robot deliver your food, you can opt out. Otherwise, place your order as you normally would. One lesson we learned using the Uber app is that you should add a tip to your order like you normally would. No, you're not expected to tip the robots – it's just that the robots may or may not deliver your order. If the robot does, your tip is credited back to your account. If the robots are busy on other deliveries (or busy rioting about wages and health insurance), as they were the first time we ordered, a driver will bring your food, in which case you'd want to tip your driver. 
We also learned that you can't explicitly request a robot; if the bots are busy, again, you get a regular human driver. And it's also really hard to cancel an order, which drivers hate (we also learned that and paid him regardless). This day was full of learning.
Shveyko says that a mom's group in Austin has created a system to track orders so their kids can watch the robots. Adults love them too. We watched our robot traverse the scaffolding in a construction area and deal with orange construction cones, in which case a member of Dallas' Green Team moved the cone blocking its path. The robot would have scooted around it, but we appreciate that chivalry is not dead.
We anxiously tracked our order from Salsa Limon across a DART track like parents watching Life 360. Our new pal made it through many busy intersections (all by itself!), down Pacific Avenue, and past Thanks-Giving Square. In all, it took about 15 minutes.
After the robot arrived, blinking at us with its light eyes, our Uber app pinged. We simply slid a button across the phone screen to open the locked cooler and retrieve our food. Then, we told the app we had all our food, so the robot could go back home.
Before spinning around, it winked at us.
Robots Range and Theft
Shveyko says the question she gets most often about their robots is theft. "We haven't seen anyone try to steal one," she says with a laugh, adding that the machine's weight makes them difficult to lift. "And people are smart. They see a device with cameras and security devices, and they know they should probably keep a distance."
Shveyko says that with so many deliveries already provided, she and her colleagues have seen everything. People have sat on robots, and many have tried to block them. "But robots have endless patience," she added.
She also pointed out that the robots are very easy to track (so don't get any ideas for a new patio table).
Another common question is how far the robots can travel. She says Avride prefers to keep them within 2 to 3 miles.
Delivery through the robot is still expensive. Our order for Nachos de Quesos from Salsa Limon cost $8.62, plus a $4.49 delivery fee and a $3.49 service fee. With a 68-cent tax, our less-than-nine-buck nachos cost just about $17 to be delivered to our door via an app. But that wink made it all worthwhile.
