Minneapolis City Council considers regulating robots rolling around University of Minnesota

Little white robots began rolling around the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in October — delivering Starbucks frappes or Panda Express sesame chicken — and now the Minneapolis City Council is thinking about regulating them.

Last year, the council approved a pilot program allowing the U’s Twin Cities campus to have “personal delivery devices” (aka sidewalk delivery robots) on campus for one year, beginning last September. The college initially planned to allow six to 10 robots to make food and beverage deliveries from Coffman Memorial Union to other East Bank campus buildings.

According to a 2021 Minnesota Department of Transportation white paper, the autonomous robots operating in some U.S. cities use cameras and GPS to navigate sidewalks, are 2 to 6 feet tall, weigh 40 to 500 pounds, and can hit speeds of 25 mph (although the ones at the U aren’t allowed to exceed 5 mph).

MnDOT concluded they could help meet supply-chain demand for quick deliveries and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since they’re typically electric-powered and reduce the number of cars on the road.

The pilot program was meant to allow the city to see how things went and perhaps look at regulations, but halfway through the one-year pilot, the City Council is asking questions.

A council committee voted Wednesday to have city staff research the robots and their impact on workers nationwide, and the impact at the U so far. Council Member Robin Wonsley authored the request, which seeks a report by April 9 that includes a “high-level overview of responses from labor organizations on the implementation of food delivery technology.”

Wonsley said workers have raised concerns, and she wants to ensure this isn’t a “new tech venture coming in an unregulated, untapped market and doing whatever they want and then having to catch up on regulations.”

There have been reports of accidents involving the robots around the country.

A California-based company called Starship Technologies began rolling its little white robots on the Minneapolis campus Oct. 9, and its fleet of 12 has since made over 2,000 deliveries, according to the company.

Aileen Zhong, director of government affairs at Starship Technologies, released a statement saying things have been going well since the robots launched in the fall, and “we are looking forward to the continued partnership with the city.”

“We applaud the council and city staff for continuing to work with Starship and U of M to find the best path for regulation that works for everyone. We also appreciate that they are being pioneers as this is a first in Minnesota.”