CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A major pilot project is coming to Charlotte with robotic delivery services.
The Canadian company Tiny Mile is testing robotic coffee delivery in Plaza Midwood. The project is a two-month testing program with Undercurrent Coffee on Commonwealth Avenue.
"To integrate something new like this into our business and into our community is something that we take very seriously," Undercurrent Coffee owner Todd Huber said.
Officials said there will be five robots capable of delivering coffee within a one-mile radius of the coffee shop. The robots are controlled by a remote. Tiny Mile says the robots each have 360-degree camera views and sensors for safety.
"So these robots use the cameras that they have on board to be able to tell the traffic light or pedestrian light is on or off," Omar Elawi, the Business Development Manager at Tiny Mile, said. "It also has a very bright coloring and has a little light tower on the top for it to be very visible to any kind of drivers or people taking turns on this traffic light."
The company says Charlotte is the ideal spot for its pilot program.
Alex Simpson, who lives in the Plaza Midwood area said he noticed the robots a few weeks ago.
"It's a great alternative, honestly," Simpson said. "Still, still might go to the actual store, but hey, on a Saturday, something in the morning, don't feel like leaving the house, it'd be nice."
The robots come at no cost to the business owner. The company says the robot can cover 0.6 miles in 15 minutes. This translates into about cost of about $2 a mile to the customer.
Eliminating the human element of delivery drivers could harm some gig workers. Elawi said the company employs multiple people to get just one robot working, though.
"You need technicians, you need engineers, you need a dispatcher a rescuer, there's a whole team, a whole amount of people that you would need to hire to be able to get this thing kind of running," Elawi said.
Huber said the robots give small business owners an opportunity to save costs on traditional delivery services.
"This might in some cases, cannibalize some jobs, like Omar described, it might add more jobs the way he described, but it's providing more services to other businesses that couldn't otherwise use or wouldn't otherwise use the traditional services that employ humans to deliver," Huber said.
The robots could also have fewer drivers on the road and lead to a greener Charlotte.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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