Crossing Dubai roads, stopping for traffic signals: How a robot delivered my food in 10 minutes

Crossing Dubai roads, stopping for traffic signals: How a robot delivered my food in 10 minutes

This is not a drill - the robots are coming. A fleet of delivery robots will soon be scooting the streets of Dubai communities and bringing food to your doorsteps. Talabat has launched a pilot project whereby the robots – Talabots, running at a maximum speed of 8km per hour – will deliver food to residents.

The online food delivery company invited Khaleej Times to experience it first-hand in Cedre Shopping Centre in Dubai Silicon Oasis on Thursday. Guided by the Talabat team, we placed an order through the company's app for Starbucks.

“When placing the order, you must choose ‘Starbucks by Robot’ for the delivery option; otherwise, a regular delivery riders will deliver the order. Payment for the service is made through credit cards and Apple Pay only, not cash on delivery.

"Also, select a pin where the order needs to be delivered. Make sure you drop the pin at the right place because sometimes people place it in the parking lot, and a robot will take the delivery to that location,” Maria Estevan, director of special projects at Talabat, said while guiding about placing the order.

Once the order was placed, an autonomous robot manoeuvred through residents inside the Cedre Villas Community