'An alarm will go off and they record images,' he says. 'People interact with them and we almost encourage that when they arrive in a new area.'ĭo they ever get stolen? There wouldn't be much point, he explains, and there would be a good chance of getting caught.

'A lot of people jump in front of them, kids will touch them,' Andrew says. Another girl, aged about four, tugs on her mum's arm and shouts in excitement. One small boy, walking with his family, passes the robot and keeps turning back in disbelief. If the paths are too narrow then they won't go there.Īs we follow at a distance, I spy the thrilled faces of children. A team will map the robot's journey before launch to check its feasibility.

'They're built to take up the same footprint as a regular human being,' he says. Could disabled people or the elderly be at risk on pavements?Īndrew says not. I live in London so am no dawdler, n rly but this feels faster than 'pedestrian speed'. The app alerts the customer that their delivery has arrived, and is used to unlock it.īefore long, I'm breaking a sweat in hot pursuit. We close the top lid over the separate compartments for hot and cold foods, and away it rolls. 'We had to ask them to stop because it was taking hours to take them off.' 'There was an estate in Northampton where people put googly eyes on the robots,' Andrew smiles. They dressed their robots up as pumpkins for Halloween and reindeer at Christmas. 'People feel special that they're in their communities.'Īnd so do the staff. 'It's a novelty factor at first,' he says. Cats tend to sit on them, as cats like to do.Įach Starship launch in a new store is preceded by meet-and-greets in schools and community centres.Ĭhildren and families adore the robots, says Chris Conway, Co-op's e-Commerce director. So what about animals? 'Dogs are alarmed at first but they become used to them,' he says. 'If we go into areas and frustrate people or get in their way and become an annoyance, it's never going to work.' 'It's ultimately about adoption,' Andrew says. You can't help wanting to mother these friendly little machines. I notice Ray has said 'he', as I have done instinctively. The robots are programmed to use certain expressions. 'It asked the customer to press the button and then he said 'thank you' before crossing,' Ray chuckles. Another shopper met one waiting patiently at pedestrian lights. One customer recently rescued one of the store's robots that had lost a wheel, returning it to the shop in their car. 'Children follow them around the store and help us load them up.' 'The interaction with customers has been amazing,' he says. 'I have a husband who does the shopping for me.'īut Starship and the Co-op insist she's in the minority, as confirmed by Ray returning with our milk and bread. They either plot to kill us - like The Terminator - or malfunction spectacularly - like Ash in Alien.īut a Starship robot resembles the title hero from Pixar/Disney's WALL-E film. Hollywood has taught us to distrust robots, particularly humanised ones. 'I think it is because they are out there on their own.' 'They are creepy' she whispers, conspiratorially. Great-grandmother Diane, 69, pulls a face.

How much shopping can it hold? Three bags if packed right, apparently. Like most people, she has lots of questions. 'It is like something from oiwiI outer space,' remarks one lady in her seventies. That one per cent buffer is for things the robot has never seen before, which we can't predict, like a fallen tree.'Īs Goldington's store manager Ray Maynard prepares an order for the demonstration, passing shoppers can't help but have their say. 'The robots are 99 per cent autonomous but are monitored by people who can intervene if necessary. 'Most time of the time, it comes to a safe stop and lets the obstacle pass,' Andrew says. If the bubble is compromised, say by an out-of-control cyclist or a sleeping cat, the robot reacts within a split second. 'They collect 'frames', which they convert into straight lines and triangulate so they know where they are to the nearest inch.When they've 'slept' for a while, they need to go for a quick run to localise themselves again.'Įach robot uses internal cameras and sensors to create a 'virtual bubble of awareness'. 'A lot of people think they run on GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation alone but that's secondary. 'It's to do with localisation,' he continues. 'They've lost their mojo,' Andrew jokes before explaining they're mapping their surroundings after lying dormant for too long. Every so often one jolts awake and performs a few abrupt manoeuvres, like a learner driver, before parallel parking back into place. I arrive to find several robots grouped together looking like a mini lorry park.

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