Australia has been hesitant – but could robots soon be delivering your pizza?

Robots zipping down footpaths may sound futuristic, but they are increasingly being put to work making deliveries around the world – though a legal minefield and cautious approach to new tech means they are largely absent in Australia. Retail and food businesses have been using robots for a variety of reasons, with hazard detection robots popping up in certain Woolworths stores and virtual waiters taking dishes from kitchens in understaffed restaurants to hungry diners in recent years. Overseas, in jurisdictions such as California, robots are far more visible in everyday life. Following on from the first wave of self-driving car trials in cities such as San Francisco, humans now also share footpaths with robots. Likened to lockers on wheels, companies including Serve Robotics and Coco have partnered with Uber Eats and Doordash, which have armies of robots travelling along footpaths in Los Angeles delivering takeaway meals and groceries.