# App controlled bots deliver Groceries within a two mile area. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079 "2018-11-25T22:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/21 "2018-11-28T01:08:58Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTiXTUF\_eUk&feature=youtu.be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTiXTUF_eUk&feature=youtu.be) > > Not a very realistic video. In real life, the old man would’ve started whacking the bot with his cane, and the boy on a bicycle would’ve flipped the thing over and left it by the side of the road with its wheels spinning in the air. Then the armed drones show up… ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/22 "2018-11-28T16:06:06Z")
I am a responsible, well-behaved, non-violent citizen, but something about those bots makes me want to show them who’s boss. This must be how my well-fed cat feels when a mouse gets in the house. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/23 "2018-11-29T13:59:29Z")
**App controlled bots deliver Groceries within a two mile area.** I think they’re going to have to get the [CEP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_error_probable) way down before I’d be interested in using this service. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/24 "2018-11-29T19:34:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Two bags of groceries isn’t a lot of money. Hopefully it won’t be worth risking jail to bust open the bot. It’s also not a lot of groceries. I order my groceries using Instacart (which has a human doing the shopping and delivering) and usually have 6 or 7 bags of groceries. I’d have to have a robot making 2 or 3 trips a week for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/25 "2018-11-29T19:47:37Z")
There are other projects that use self-driving vehicles to deliver groceries (and other goods) to people. Some of these vehicles are designed for the purpose and have multiple locked compartments, so they can delivery to multiple people. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/26 "2018-11-29T21:55:30Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It’s also not a lot of groceries. I order my groceries using Instacart (which has a human doing the shopping and delivering) and usually have 6 or 7 bags of groceries. I’d have to have a robot making 2 or 3 trips a week for me. Will it hold even a single 24/36/48 pack of TP or an 8/12/16 pack of paper towels? I do all my shopping at once, not interested in having to purchase some here & some there. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/27 "2018-11-29T22:47:27Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Will it hold even a single 24/36/48 pack of TP or an 8/12/16 pack of paper towels? I do all my shopping at once, not interested in having to purchase some here & some there. I think the deal is that you don’t go shopping, you do it online. It wouldn’t work for me because I buy groceries at lunch or after work on the way home. I check the used meat for example, and see what vegetables look fresh. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/28 "2018-11-29T23:50:24Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think the deal is that you don’t go shopping, you do it online. > It wouldn’t work for me because I buy groceries at lunch or after work on the way home. I check the used meat for example, and see what vegetables look fresh. That’s how Instacart works. Only the groceries are delivered by a human in a vehicle with enough carrying capacity for all the groceries you order at one time. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/29 "2018-12-01T00:38:53Z")
I fail to see the economic advantage of this over having a driver do the deliveries. Let’s say the drone travels at 4mph, a brisk and potentially dangerous speed on the sidewalks since humans walking casually are around 3mph. So a 2 mile round trip for the drone would be 1 hour per delivery, not counting waiting time for the customer to meet it. On the other hand, a delivery driver could make multiple deliveries within the same hour, though of course you have to pay for their time, but it would be minimal per delivery. For example, if they average 5 deliveries per hour @ $15/hour, that’s $3/delivery. Plus they could do other tasks when not on the road, including doing the grocery picking. Also, the concept is far from new. Replace the app with a phone call and the drone with a delivery boy on a bike. Ta da! Been done decades ago! ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/30 "2018-12-01T15:23:34Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think the deal is that you don’t go shopping, you do it online. No, you missed my point. If I go online to buy 10 things, one of them being a big pack to TP or PT then nothing else will fit in that little robot car because that one item is so bulky. Either I wouldn’t be allowed to order large, bulky items via this method, which requires two orders, which is what I was referring to or they’d send a fleet of these to my house (doubtful) or it would require me to be home for two separate deliveries. I also wonder how it works for people with a fence/gate, stairs, or in an apartment building with a locked front door? If I meet it in the lobby will it follow me up to my apartment or do I need to unload it there & carry 10 things upstairs, which would probably require multiple trips. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/31 "2018-12-01T17:37:43Z")
Googling my local Walmart shows that there are maybe 200 houses within a 2-mile as-the-crow-flies radius. Going by road eliminates at least a third of them. Not much of a market there even if the bot survives the parking lot. It needs to be able to go farther and be able to navigate a bar ditch to get out of traffic. Until they give a much bigger range and put off-road tires on it I can’t see it as an option outside a few inner-city type areas. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/32 "2018-12-01T23:27:20Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > Also, the concept is far from new. Replace the app with a phone call and the drone with a delivery boy on a bike. Ta da! Been done decades ago! Yeah, but this is AI and robots and NEW! It’s automatically better. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/33 "2018-12-01T23:57:48Z")
I recall my childhood pal Ricky calling his Mother. “I know I said if you let me have a motorcycle I could go to the grocery, but a\* chicken\*?” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/34 "2018-12-02T00:14:38Z")
Well, anything to keep jobs from people who actually need them, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079/35 "2018-12-02T00:53:18Z")
since its a service and not the store its self you run in to the sane annoyance I do getting a sandwich delivered by door dash …. Unless someone updates the “menu” or your ordering directly from the store you miss all the promotions and the like , [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/app-controlled-bots-deliver-groceries-within-a-two-mile-area/825079.md?page=1)