Uber Eats faced an incident in the American city of Miami where a delivery robot was completely destroyed by a train. Although the robots are largely self-driving, human operators can intervene remotely in complex situations. Uber Eats had initially launched its robot delivery service in a limited trial in Santa Monica, California, before expanding it to Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The success of this trial prompted the company to expand the service to other American cities. A video of the incident, filmed by a Miami resident named Guillermo Dabillow, shows the robot standing on the train tracks for about 15 minutes before being struck at full speed by a Brightline passenger train. Dabillow stated that he was walking his dogs around 8 p.m. when he noticed the food cart stopped on the tracks. An Uber Eats representative had already contacted the company to report the robot's location. Despite Dabillow being heard saying in the video, "Oh, it's going to hit it," no one was injured. Reports indicate the robot was not carrying any orders at the time of the crash. According to safety rules from Operation Lifesaver, a train traveling at 55 mph needs nearly a full mile to stop. In contrast, while a single locomotive weighs around 200 tons, the small delivery robots, no bigger than a suitcase, travel at only about 5 mph. Uber Eats robots can carry up to 55 pounds of food or drinks and feature secure compartments that can only be opened via the Uber Eats app by the customer. These robots rely on artificial intelligence, cameras, and sensors to navigate obstacles on sidewalks.
