Sidewalks are for people. Will the wheeled robot step aside for a grandmother in a wheelchair or neighbor with MS who needs the full width of sidewalk? What will the robot wagon do when it tips over?
People have legal rights to sidewalks. Wheeled robots do not and should not. As urban landscapes continue to grow, sidewalks are one of the last refuges for millions of people to engage in humanity's oldest form of locomotion.
Instead of pouring gobs of money into robots, marketing and lobbying, a good company would do the right thing that is leaving sidewalks for people.
Agreed. There's probably an argument to be made for delivery of urgently needed medication for those unable to get it, especially in times of, for instance, severe weather. But even then, I'm having a hard time seeing how the resources used will be worth it or perhaps even be workable. We should probably be considering alternate approaches to more full employment -- in which people would walk to make deliveries when those are really needed.
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