Food Delivery Robots Coming to Fremont

The Fremont City Council has approved a pilot program for DoorDash's autonomous delivery robot, named Dot. The program will begin with a small, supervised test before potentially expanding to a fleet of up to 30 remotely monitored robots. The robots will operate in the Downtown/Central, Centerville, and Irvington neighborhoods. Their routes will include major streets like Fremont Boulevard, Paseo Padre Parkway, Walnut Avenue, Mowry Avenue, and Stevenson Boulevard. Dot, an all-electric robot, is designed to navigate city sidewalks and bike lanes at low speeds. It will travel at a maximum of 5 mph on sidewalks, 16 mph in bike lanes, and up to 20 mph on neighborhood streets. The public can get a first look at the robots during Fremont's Restaurant Week from March 6 to 15. These robots navigate using a combination of cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence to avoid obstacles. While largely autonomous, human operators can remotely take control if the robot encounters a situation it cannot resolve on its own. Fremont joins a growing number of cities embracing robotic delivery. Companies like Starship Technologies and Serve Robotics have already deployed thousands of robots in various cities across the U.S. and Europe. Starship, for instance, has completed over 9 million deliveries with its fleet of autonomous robots. These initiatives are part of a broader push to solve the "last-mile" delivery problem, which is often the most expensive and inefficient part of the delivery process. Companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash have partnered with robotics companies to integrate this technology into their platforms in several major cities.