'Refraction AI, a University of Michigan startup that began delivering food in late 2019, says its pilot deployment of five “Rev-1” robots is doing four times as many runs since the COVID-19 crisis began. The small fleet of delivery robots helps keep employees and patrons safer by limiting human to human contact while also helping restaurants save money on delivery services due to the lower cost of Refraction AI’s service. Refraction AI was co-founded in late 2019 by Matthew Johnson-Roberson, associate professor of naval architecture and marine engineering, and Ram Vasudevan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. https://droplab.engin.umich.edu/matthew-johnson-roberson http://www.roahmlab.com/ram-personal There are five Ann Arbor restaurants and approximately 500 customers participating in the pilot using a custom-designed app. The battery-powered robots have a top speed of about 15 miles per hour and operate mainly in bike lanes. Their low speed enables them to use inexpensive camera-based navigation systems, making their cost feasible for a delivery service. More on the startup: https://refraction.ai/ ------ Watch more videos from University of Michigan Engineering and subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/michiganengineering The University of Michigan College of Engineering is one of the world’s top engineering schools. Michigan Engineering is home to 12 highly-ranked departments, and its research budget is among the largest of any public university. http://engin.umich.edu Follow University of Michigan Engineering: Twitter: https://twitter.com/umengineering Facebook: https://facebook.com/michigan.engineering Instagram: https://instagram.com/michiganengineering Contact University of Michigan Engineering: https://engin.umich.edu/about/contact/'
Tags: covid , Covid-19 , coronavirus , Social distancing , Robots , Pandemic , recession , restaurants , food delivery , University of Michigan , robotics , ECONOMIC RECOVERY , delivery robots , autonomous delivery , autonomous vehicles , Michigan Engineering , University of Michigan Engineering , University of Michigan College of Engineering , economic downturn
See also:
comments