Australia’s first robot footpath delivery service has been launched on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Serve Robotics and DoorDash have started the service at the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct.
The first participant is the Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers restaurant.
It is Serve Robotics’ first operation outside of the United States.
In a statement, the partners said the serve robots travelled at walking pace, gave way to pedestrians, and were supported by trained remote supervisors.
At the end of each shift, the robots will return to Serve’s operations depot at Griffith University.
As part of the partnership, Serve and Griffith are exploring internship and early-career opportunities for Griffith students and graduates in robotics, autonomy operations and field engineering.
Serve Robotics CEO Ali Kashani said the Gold Coast operation was a way to give local restaurants a new way to reach customers and earn community trust one delivery at a time.
“The City of Gold Coast opened the door, DoorDash brought the restaurants and customers, and Griffith University in the Health and Knowledge Precinct gave our fleet a home,” he said.
“It all leads to the moment I’m most looking forward to, when a Gold Coast family opens their door and finds a robot has arrived with dinner.”
Mr Kashani said more local restaurants would join the launch in the coming weeks, with any future expansion informed by community feedback.
Vice President of DoorDash APAC, Simon Rossi, said DoorDash was focused on building a delivery platform that gave customers and merchants more choice, while continuing to support the “Dashers who are central to our platform”.
“This pilot program will help us understand how footpath robots can complement existing delivery options for short, local trips creating another convenient way for Gold Coast customers to access the neighbourhood businesses they love,” Mr Rossi said.
City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he welcomed the Australia-first robot food delivery service.
“We know that the Gold Coast’s future economy will be shaped by technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and we want our city to be a place where those technologies are developed, tested and put to work,” he said.
“Having Serve Robotics choose the Gold Coast for its first operation outside the United States is a strong vote of confidence in our city and the innovation ecosystem we are building.”
Since Serve began operating, its robots have completed deliveries for thousands of restaurants across US cities including Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta.
For more information, visit Serve Robotics
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