A friendly, autonomous robot that delivers your food
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0:01 - 0:03Food delivery.
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0:03 - 0:06It's the thing that saves
millennials from starvation. -
0:07 - 0:08By my calculations,
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0:08 - 0:12Americans order over 20 million
restaurant deliveries -
0:12 - 0:14every single day.
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0:14 - 0:17Over half of these deliveries
are actually within walking distance. -
0:17 - 0:21But nine out of 10 are delivered in cars.
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0:22 - 0:24So basically,
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0:24 - 0:26we are moving a two-pound burrito
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0:26 - 0:28in a two-ton car
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0:28 - 0:3020 million times a day.
-
0:30 - 0:32The energy to bring you that burrito
-
0:32 - 0:35is actually bringing you
a two-ton metal cage -
0:35 - 0:36with heated seats.
-
0:36 - 0:38Let's be honest.
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0:38 - 0:40We are addicted to our cars.
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0:40 - 0:42Did you know that in America,
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0:42 - 0:45for every car,
there are four parking spots? -
0:45 - 0:47In some downtowns,
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0:47 - 0:50over half of the real estate is for cars.
-
0:50 - 0:53We have designed our cities
around our cars, -
0:53 - 0:56because we drive
whether we're going two miles -
0:56 - 0:58or 200 miles.
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0:58 - 1:00Solo, or with our whole family.
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1:01 - 1:06We get into the same SUV
to go buy coffee or a coffee table. -
1:06 - 1:09If we could free up
some of these streets and parking lots, -
1:09 - 1:10we could build more housing,
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1:10 - 1:12more social spaces, more parks.
-
1:13 - 1:14But to do that,
-
1:14 - 1:18first, we need to rethink
how we are using cars today. -
1:18 - 1:19In the city of the future,
-
1:19 - 1:23if you want to go five blocks,
you summon a bike or a scooter. -
1:23 - 1:26If you're in a rush,
a passenger drone would pick you up. -
1:26 - 1:30And if you need food,
no need to have someone drive over -- -
1:30 - 1:32the food will make its way to you.
-
1:32 - 1:36Let's go back to those 20 million a day
restaurant deliveries. -
1:36 - 1:39If we could get
these deliveries off the road, -
1:39 - 1:41we could reduce the need
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1:41 - 1:45for as many as one and a half
million cars just in the US. -
1:45 - 1:48That's twice the size of San Francisco.
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1:48 - 1:52Now, think of the impact this could have
on cities like Delhi, -
1:52 - 1:55or my birth city of Tehran,
-
1:55 - 1:58where car pollution is killing
thousands of people every year. -
1:59 - 2:03So how do we get some
of these deliveries off the road? -
2:05 - 2:06Well, that's the question
-
2:06 - 2:10that my team and I have been obsessed with
over the last three years. -
2:10 - 2:13And the solution is
actually one of the building blocks -
2:13 - 2:15of the city of the future.
-
2:16 - 2:20We've been creating
small, self-driving robots -
2:20 - 2:23that navigate quiet alleys and sidewalks
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2:23 - 2:25on a walking pace
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2:25 - 2:28and have a secured cargo
to deliver you food and supplies. -
2:28 - 2:31Now, before I tell you
more about the robots, -
2:31 - 2:33let's do a quick thought experiment.
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2:34 - 2:38In your mind, picture a city
with thousands of robots. -
2:39 - 2:40Is it this one?
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2:41 - 2:45This Hollywood dystopia
is what a lot of people expect. -
2:45 - 2:50But our job is to create a friendly future
that's designed for people. -
2:50 - 2:53So instead of making aliens,
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2:53 - 2:57we set out to create robots
that are familiar. -
2:57 - 3:00Robots that would belong
in our communities. -
3:01 - 3:03But we also wanted a little surprise.
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3:03 - 3:06Something unexpectedly delightful.
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3:06 - 3:07Think about it.
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3:07 - 3:08You're walking down the street,
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3:09 - 3:11and you see your very first robot.
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3:11 - 3:13That's the moment
when you're going to decide -
3:13 - 3:16if this is a future you love or fear.
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3:17 - 3:20And with a lot of people
having these dystopian ideas, -
3:20 - 3:22we need to open their minds.
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3:22 - 3:25We want to surprise and delight them,
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3:25 - 3:28so that we can win them over
on first impression. -
3:28 - 3:29This is what we came up with.
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3:29 - 3:32It's familiar, but it's also surprising.
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3:33 - 3:34It's just a shopping cart,
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3:35 - 3:38but it also looks like
we crossbred WALL-E with Minions. -
3:39 - 3:42If you live in San Francisco
or Los Angeles, -
3:42 - 3:45chances are one of these
has already delivered your food. -
3:45 - 3:48As soon as we put robots
out on the street, -
3:48 - 3:50we learned some
really interesting problems. -
3:50 - 3:53Like, how should robots cross the road?
-
3:54 - 3:59Or how should robots interact with people
with visual or mobility impairments? -
4:00 - 4:04We quickly realized
that we need to teach our robots -
4:04 - 4:06how to communicate with people.
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4:07 - 4:10People on the sidewalk
come from every walk of life, -
4:10 - 4:13so we needed to create a new language,
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4:13 - 4:15kind of a universal language
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4:15 - 4:18so people and robots
can understand each other -
4:18 - 4:19right off the bat.
-
4:19 - 4:22Because no one is going
to be reading user manuals. -
4:24 - 4:27We started with eyes,
because eyes are universal. -
4:27 - 4:29They can show where the robot is going
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4:29 - 4:32or if it's confused.
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4:32 - 4:34Plus, eyes make robots more human.
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4:35 - 4:37We also used sounds.
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4:37 - 4:40For example, we created this running sound
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4:40 - 4:41with frequent gaps
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4:41 - 4:45so that people with visual impairments
could locate their robots -
4:45 - 4:47using the Doppler effect.
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4:47 - 4:50But it turned out these were not enough.
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4:50 - 4:51At intersections,
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4:51 - 4:53cars would cut in front of our robots.
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4:53 - 4:56Drivers were getting confused sometimes,
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4:56 - 5:00because robots would take too long
before they started crossing. -
5:01 - 5:03Even ordinary pedestrians
were getting confused. -
5:04 - 5:07Sometimes, they couldn't figure out
on which side to pass the robots, -
5:07 - 5:11because robots make a lot
of small adjustments to their direction -
5:11 - 5:12as they move.
-
5:12 - 5:14This actually sparked a new idea.
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5:15 - 5:19What if we used movement
to create a universal language? -
5:19 - 5:21Like, at intersections,
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5:21 - 5:24robots would gently move forward
before they start crossing, -
5:24 - 5:27to signal to drivers that it's their turn.
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5:28 - 5:30If they see someone in a wheelchair,
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5:30 - 5:34they yield by pointing themselves
away from the sidewalk, -
5:34 - 5:36to signal that they're not going to move.
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5:38 - 5:39Some of you may remember this.
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5:39 - 5:45In 2015, Canadian researchers
sent a robot hitchhiking across the US. -
5:46 - 5:47It didn't get very far.
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5:47 - 5:51It turns out that robots
can also use some social skills. -
5:51 - 5:53Like, if they're being tampered with,
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5:54 - 5:59Carnegie Mellon researchers have shown
that small toy robots should play dead, -
5:59 - 6:02because people feel bad
when they think they broke it. -
6:02 - 6:04But delivery robots aren't toys,
-
6:05 - 6:07they're not small,
they are out there in public. -
6:07 - 6:10We found that with delivery robots,
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6:10 - 6:12to get people to stop tampering,
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6:12 - 6:14robots need to show awareness.
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6:15 - 6:17It's kind of the opposite of playing dead.
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6:18 - 6:19In this case,
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6:19 - 6:22robots need to acknowledge the situation
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6:22 - 6:24to get people to step away.
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6:25 - 6:26Also, a word of advice.
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6:26 - 6:29If you are a robot and you see small kids,
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6:29 - 6:31run towards the closest adult.
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6:31 - 6:35It turns out that some kids
just love harassing robots. -
6:35 - 6:38So besides dystopia,
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6:38 - 6:41Hollywood also promised us
some really cool robots -
6:41 - 6:44that would run our errands
or keep us company. -
6:44 - 6:47So far, we've really focused
on food delivery, -
6:47 - 6:49but in the future,
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6:49 - 6:51these robots can do more.
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6:51 - 6:55Like, they could gather excess food
and bring it to shelters every night. -
6:56 - 7:00Because in America,
we waste 30 percent of our food, -
7:00 - 7:03while 10 percent of our people
experience food insecurity. -
7:03 - 7:05These robots could be
part of the solution. -
7:06 - 7:10Or when we have hundreds of robots
running around cities, -
7:10 - 7:14we could have robots carry
emergency medications at all times, -
7:14 - 7:18just in case someone nearby
has an allergic reaction -
7:18 - 7:19or an asthma attack.
-
7:19 - 7:22These robots could be on-site
within a minute or two, -
7:22 - 7:24faster than anyone else.
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7:24 - 7:25And during pandemics,
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7:26 - 7:28robots can be a key part
of our infrastructure. -
7:28 - 7:30They can ensure
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7:30 - 7:33that we can provide our communities
with the essential needs -
7:33 - 7:35even during emergencies.
-
7:35 - 7:38Let me leave you with one last thought.
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7:38 - 7:44Today, objects can't get from A to B
without human help, -
7:44 - 7:47because our three-dimensional world
is quite complex. -
7:48 - 7:52But new sensors and AI can change that.
-
7:52 - 7:55In a way, technology is like a baby
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7:55 - 7:59that has just learned to recognize objects
and understand words, -
7:59 - 8:02and maybe even hold a basic conversation,
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8:02 - 8:04but it hasn't learned to walk yet.
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8:05 - 8:07Now, we are teaching technology
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8:08 - 8:10how to navigate
the three-dimensional world -
8:10 - 8:11without our help.
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8:13 - 8:15We are entering this new era
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8:15 - 8:19where insentient objects
are going to get up and move freely. -
8:20 - 8:22And when they do,
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8:22 - 8:24we've got to make sure
they don't look like aliens. -
8:24 - 8:29My vision for the future
is that when things come to life, -
8:29 - 8:31they do so with joy.
-
8:31 - 8:34You know, less like
the movie "Terminator" -
8:34 - 8:36and more like "Toy Story."
-
8:36 - 8:37Thank you.
- Title:
- A friendly, autonomous robot that delivers your food
- Speaker:
- Ali Kashani
- Description:
-
Meet the friendly robot that could deliver your next burrito. Ali Kashani introduces us to Postmates' autonomous delivery robot and explains how it could help reduce carbon emissions and free up valuable real estate in cities everywhere. Learn more about how it was specially designed to navigate complex social interactions on busy sidewalks to bring you your food (and more) with joy.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 08:51
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for A friendly, autonomous robot that delivers your food | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for A friendly, autonomous robot that delivers your food |