In a time where autonomous machines, cars and drones are becoming more commonplace a touching story from California shows that no robot should be taken for granted.
At Berkley University, students have been able to order food and drinks via automatic robot for over a year now. About 100 Kiwibot machines are working on and around the campus.
On 14 December, tragedy struck when one of the Kiwibots suddenly went up in flames. Sadly the Kiwibot could not be saved, not even by a fire extinguisher, and he “died” as students were filming and taking pictures of the flaming robot.
In a statement, the Kiwi company explained that the problem was caused by human error. Kiwibot batteries need to be changed on a regular basis. The Kiwibot in question was equipped with a malfunctioning battery, which lead to a system overheat until the little robot was nothing but a tiny ball of fire.
Apparently touched by the Kiwibot’s tragic demise, students came to pay homage to a life of humble servitude by laying down flowers and placing candles on the spot where the tragedy occurred. According to the creators of Kiwibot, the service delivered more than 10,000 meals in a single year.
In the US, Kiwi isn’t the only firm to have invested in autonomous deliveries. Domino’s started a similar programme back in 2016. More prototypes are currently in development.
