Meals delivered by robots are now a reality on Australia’s Gold Coast.
No more men on noisy motorbikes.
Serve Robotics and DoorDash have launched Australia's first footpath robot delivery service with an initial launch in the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct.
Starting today, DoorDash customers ordering from Gnocchi Gnocchi, Southport - the pilot’s first participating restaurant - can choose to have their order delivered by a Serve robot.
No more men on noisy motorbikes.
Serve Robotics and DoorDash have launched Australia's first footpath robot delivery service with an initial launch in the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct.
Starting today, DoorDash customers ordering from Gnocchi Gnocchi, Southport - the pilot’s first participating restaurant - can choose to have their order delivered by a Serve robot.
More local restaurants will join the launch in the coming weeks, with any future expansion informed by feedback from the community.
Serve robots travel at walking pace, give way to pedestrians and are designed to safely navigate footpaths. They are supported by “trained remote supervisors” who can assist where needed and each robot displays a contact number for members of the public with questions.
“This is the first time we've taken Serve beyond the United States, and the Gold Coast is the right place to start,” said said Ali Kashani, CEO and co-founder of Serve Robotics
“ It has the walkable neighbourhoods this technology is built for and a city that has shown it welcomes innovation. After delivering for more than 4,500 restaurants at home, we're here to give local restaurants a new way to reach customers and to earn community trust one delivery at a time.
"The City of Gold Coast opened the door, DoorDash brought the restaurants and customers, and Griffith University in the Health and Knowledge Precinct gave our fleet a home. It all leads to the moment I'm most looking forward to, when a Gold Coast family opens their door and finds a robot has arrived with dinner.”
The project is part of DoorDash’s broader multi-modal delivery strategy, which brings together a range of delivery technologies to create more flexible and efficient ways to serve consumers and local businesses. These deliveries typically fulfil orders within short distances, in relatively dense, urban areas, while drivers take on longer-distance orders.
“DoorDash is focused on building a delivery platform that gives customers and merchants more choice, while continuing to support the Dashers who are central to our platform,” said Simon Rossi, vice president for DoorDash APAC.
“This pilot program will help us understand how footpath robots can complement existing delivery options for short, local trips creating another convenient way for Gold Coast customers to access the neighbourhood businesses they love.”
Customers can opt-in or out of robot deliveries.
The partnership is intended to give local restaurants another way to reach nearby customers, particularly during busy periods. What Serve and DoorDash learn during the pilot program will shape how the service grows, and any changes to delivery zones.
While it might work in certain areas, in others I suspect local youths might have fun attacking the delivery units.
City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he welcomed the Australia-first robot food delivery service on the Gold Coast.
“We know that the Gold Coast’s future economy will be shaped by technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and we want our city to be a place where those technologies are developed, tested and put to work,” he said.
At the end of each shift, robots will return to Serve’s operations depot at Griffith University, the first university to host a Serve operations team.
Since Serve began operating, its robots have completed deliveries for thousands of restaurants across U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta. The Gold Coast marks Serve’s first operation outside the United States.
Serve robots travel at walking pace, give way to pedestrians and are designed to safely navigate footpaths. They are supported by “trained remote supervisors” who can assist where needed and each robot displays a contact number for members of the public with questions.
“This is the first time we've taken Serve beyond the United States, and the Gold Coast is the right place to start,” said said Ali Kashani, CEO and co-founder of Serve Robotics
“ It has the walkable neighbourhoods this technology is built for and a city that has shown it welcomes innovation. After delivering for more than 4,500 restaurants at home, we're here to give local restaurants a new way to reach customers and to earn community trust one delivery at a time.
"The City of Gold Coast opened the door, DoorDash brought the restaurants and customers, and Griffith University in the Health and Knowledge Precinct gave our fleet a home. It all leads to the moment I'm most looking forward to, when a Gold Coast family opens their door and finds a robot has arrived with dinner.”
The project is part of DoorDash’s broader multi-modal delivery strategy, which brings together a range of delivery technologies to create more flexible and efficient ways to serve consumers and local businesses. These deliveries typically fulfil orders within short distances, in relatively dense, urban areas, while drivers take on longer-distance orders.
“DoorDash is focused on building a delivery platform that gives customers and merchants more choice, while continuing to support the Dashers who are central to our platform,” said Simon Rossi, vice president for DoorDash APAC.
“This pilot program will help us understand how footpath robots can complement existing delivery options for short, local trips creating another convenient way for Gold Coast customers to access the neighbourhood businesses they love.”
Customers can opt-in or out of robot deliveries.
The partnership is intended to give local restaurants another way to reach nearby customers, particularly during busy periods. What Serve and DoorDash learn during the pilot program will shape how the service grows, and any changes to delivery zones.
While it might work in certain areas, in others I suspect local youths might have fun attacking the delivery units.
City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he welcomed the Australia-first robot food delivery service on the Gold Coast.
“We know that the Gold Coast’s future economy will be shaped by technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and we want our city to be a place where those technologies are developed, tested and put to work,” he said.
At the end of each shift, robots will return to Serve’s operations depot at Griffith University, the first university to host a Serve operations team.
Since Serve began operating, its robots have completed deliveries for thousands of restaurants across U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta. The Gold Coast marks Serve’s first operation outside the United States.
