Robot delivery gets green light
Courtesy photo Anderson Smoot watches a delivery robot from Starship Technologies pass him at City Park.
COURTESY PHOTOA delivery robot from Starship Technologies explores the old elks building during the Think Big Festival in 2016. The company helped lobby Idaho politicians to pass laws that allow and regulate the use of robots for delivery purposes.
Idaho is now the second state — Virginia was first — to have officially approved the use of delivery robots in public spaces.
The legislation, which passed easily in the state House and Senate and was signed into law Monday by Gov. Butch Otter, defines a “Personal Delivery Device” and sets rules and parameters for their use.
The law states the robots are authorized to operate on sidewalks and crosswalks, must weigh less than 80 pounds without cargo and can only go up to 10 mph. The PDDs have the same rights as pedestrians, but mustn’t interfere with pedestrians or traffic and must yield the right of way to pedestrians, according to the new law.
The law also states PDDs must have a braking system, and an operator must be actively controlling or monitoring the device when it’s on sidewalks or crosswalks.
“This is our future: We will have autonomous vehicles and delivery systems. It’s basically inevitable,” said Rep. Paul Amador, R-Coeur d’Alene. “We have to have rules, regulations and laws so that they operate in a safe and established process.”
Coeur d’Alene actually passed a similar city ordinance in 2014 that authorized the use of robots on public property — the first city in the state to do so.
However, no one in Coeur d’Alene has used delivery robots.
Nick Smoot, founder of the Innovation Collective in Coeur d’Alene, said local companies have been hesitant to do so until there was a law at the state level.
Fire Artisan Pizza in downtown Coeur d’Alene has been interested in using robot technology to start delivering its pizzas. So far the company has just had conversations about robot deliveries, but has yet to get into how exactly it would work, according to Nicky McClean, the executive chef and general manager.
“The idea of being on the forefront of new technology, especially in North Idaho where it’s least expected, for us to consider it and for it to even be feasible, is pretty amazing,” she said.
Monica and Tait Engebretsen, who own the Wellness Bar, were recently introduced to the idea of robot deliveries and were immediately intrigued. Tait said he hasn’t been focusing on establishing a delivery system because he’s been occupied with his expanding company, but added a robot delivery system could offer an easy way to deliver their products while keeping them cold and fresh.
On the other side of the argument, Jim Hightower, the co-owner of Domino’s Pizza restaurants throughout the area, said he’s not eager to jump on the bandwagon.
He said he hasn’t thought about it much but doesn’t want to take away anyone’s job.
“We have about 75 drivers here locally,” he said. “Replacing them with robots is not anything I’m inclined to do at this point.”
For several years, Coeur d’Alene has been establishing itself as a hub for robotics, said Smoot of Innovation Collective. Now that Idaho is following suit, Smoot said, the robotics movement should be embraced.
“Robots will continue to dominate commerce and manufacturing,” he said. “It’s important for us as a city and a state to be where the world is going to be.”