r/interestingasfuck • u/MGC91 • Dec 03 '22
Only in Britain would you find delivery robots waiting patiently at the traffic lights No recent/common reposts
https://i.imgur.com/1QIVdx3.jpg
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u/Strange-Glove Dec 03 '22
No drunk people riding them? As a brit I feel let down
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u/chrisodeljacko Dec 03 '22
Yeah what is this utopia?! Around my area they would've been kicked in and contents robbed.
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u/Rare-Willingness4022 Dec 03 '22
My area they would have been made to fight each other to the death
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u/GoonishPython Dec 03 '22
They only arrived 2 weeks ago in my town and I am yet to see one in real life, so I wonder if they have all got attacked 🤣
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Dec 03 '22
Don’t worry I’m sure it will eventually be like the solar scooters in America soon you’ll be finding their corpses lying everywhere
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u/Mirar Dec 03 '22
Maybe the reason is that it's illegal to take pictures of drunk people riding them?
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u/EnTeR_uSeRnAmE_aNd_ Dec 03 '22
Delivery robots are a thing?
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u/Flossthief Dec 03 '22
In wealthier cities yeah
Not really worth the investment in random small towns
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u/Whatabutt_ Dec 03 '22
Yeah they'd be stolen for scrap I imagine
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u/Flossthief Dec 03 '22
Sure that
But in random bumblefuck towns you don't deliver as much food and therefore don't require a machine built for the purpose
If you deliver food regularly it becomes more and more cost effective
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u/Whatabutt_ Dec 03 '22
Absolutely agree, probably the infrastructure is lacking in towns too.
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u/somethingisaskew Dec 03 '22
Yeah they would have to use the roads and be capable of 75 kph to work where I live in the US or they would be hit and knocked into the ditch on the side of the road. Not to mention the homeless and addicts would steal or rob them.
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u/Not_So_Mighty_Menace Dec 03 '22
The batteries is where the money is at. When my city got E Scooters they ended having to reinforce their bodies because a bunch of them had their batteries stolen.
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u/Hookton Dec 03 '22
Increase the speed on those things and you've got a whole new sport just waiting to be born.
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u/Ned-Nedley Dec 03 '22
I live in a random small town and we have them roaming about. They ask you to press the crossing button for them.
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u/EducationalTangelo6 Dec 03 '22
Why is that so adorable? Omg.
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u/spiralbatross Dec 03 '22
What if no one’s there to press the button? Is the little robot stuck alone at the traffic light all night?? I need answers! It’s too sad!
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u/therealtimwarren Dec 03 '22
I've seen them roaming the streets of Cambourne, Cambridgeshire. A random small town with a Morrisons, a chip shop, a bland pub, and that's about it.
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u/philakbb Dec 03 '22
You say that but I'm pretty sure this is Milton Keynes which is for some reason the random place this sort of thing gets tested out. I've never seen these outside of there
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u/JohnSV12 Dec 03 '22
Possibly because it's a relatively recently built city so the layout is better for testing than somewhere like Oxford/Bath and of course London?
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Dec 03 '22
Delivery robots have been a thing in Estonia, especially Tallinn, for years now. It still baffles me how I could've farmed reddit karma with these posts 5 years ago :D I always thought they were quite common in Europe. If I'm not mistaken an Estonian company builds these robots as well.
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u/can_a_bus Dec 03 '22
Starship Technologies. Started by the original founders of Skype before Microsoft bought them.
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u/PerfectNegotiation5 Dec 03 '22
There’s a few of them in bowling green Ohio, which only really houses the college. Small town. I figured if BG had them so did everywhere else!
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Dec 03 '22
Did anyone check what kind of loot they drop and what is % chance for legendaries? Dont want to waste time farming.
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u/marusia_churai Dec 03 '22
Yeah, my experience in playing Horizon Zero Dawn says that it will drop it's crate if you stealthily fire a hardpoint arrow on the fastenings on it's butt:) There might be a mod or two in there and some metal shards
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Dec 03 '22
I was thinking Fallout 4 🤣🤣
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u/marusia_churai Dec 03 '22
They just remind me too much of Shellwalkers from Horizon not to mention it.
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u/Sesshaku Dec 03 '22
I think we all agree everyone expected Japan, not Britain.
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u/dman45103 Dec 03 '22
They have these at college campuses in the US and another commenter pointed out it’s been in Estonia for years. Def not a British thing
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Dec 03 '22
Why only in Britain?
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u/Badevilbunny Dec 03 '22 •
Robots are not permitted to be programmed to queue in other countries. It is part of the UN human protection charter to not have them queue, and then potentially form into a team of mass killing robots. We, here in the UK, don't sign up to that charter as we think queuing and order is more important. It is why we will all die (drunk) first.
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Dec 03 '22 edited 22d ago
[deleted]
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u/Mirar Dec 03 '22
"Loitering munitions" is pretty much robots waiting for their turn, but not very amusing sadly.
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u/producepusher Dec 03 '22
They’re in the US too. I’ve seen them in Massachusetts around Harvard & I think Portland has them too. Not just Britain.
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u/oihjoe Dec 03 '22
Almost like you’ve missed the joke
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u/Total-Ring-5421 Dec 03 '22
Or he’s just genuinely educating people who may not have know this. It’s an r/interestingasfuck sub so people rightfully expect interesting, factual posts
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u/shellofbiomatter Dec 03 '22
Not only in Britain. They are just expanding to Britain now.
Before those were in some campus in USA and in Estonia.6
u/joeguy421 Dec 03 '22
They originate from Estonia, Starship company. They were first in Mustamäe in Tallinn I think.
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
It's a joke based on the stereotype of Britons always form an orderly queue
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u/mournthewolf Dec 03 '22
Can’t be Britain. None of those robots are drunkenly hitting the other with a chair outside a pub.
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u/Flossthief Dec 03 '22
I'm American
I once arrived at a bar with nunchuks
I was too drunk to admit defeat so we spared with ninchakib
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u/Ultimate_Pie1859 Dec 03 '22
How do they press the button to activate the crossing? Do they have a little pokey stick that extends?
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
They ask people politely, I'm not even joking
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u/Ultimate_Pie1859 Dec 03 '22
That's quite adorable. If I saw a queue I would have to stand there for hours making sure they all crossed safely
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u/Thief025 Dec 03 '22
Iv never ever seen this in the UK. Ever.
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
Are you around Cambridge?
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u/Thief025 Dec 03 '22
No but I'm from Britian.
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
This is a trial taking place in Cambridge, so if you're not from around there, then that's why you wouldn't have seen them.
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u/DevMcdevface Dec 03 '22
They’re in other places too - Milton Keynes might have them first? Northampton has them too.
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u/Thief025 Dec 03 '22
In civilised Cambridge perhaps, any other place in the UK then they'd have been damaged, stolen or run over most definitely
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u/SerialDrinker_2021 Dec 03 '22
*stabbed
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u/jodorthedwarf Dec 03 '22
Tbf, there seems go be enough moped and bike thieves wandering around with angle grinders, atm, that I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried cutting their way into the delivery robot in order to nick the takeaway inside.
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u/tommangan7 Dec 03 '22 edited Dec 03 '22
They're in quite a few UK locations the last few weeks, they've just started them in North Leeds around a co op. No issues so far, they're very heavy, well sealed, have nothing of immeditate flippable value to steal, have there own security/cameras and are incredibly cautious when crossing roads.
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u/Fundindelve Dec 03 '22
Milton Keynes and Bedford have them too. Co op have partnered with starship to deliver groceries
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u/Ali80486 Dec 03 '22
Also in Northampton I think. Or maybe Kettering or Corby, it was a few months ago I saw one.
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u/StateSheriff Dec 03 '22
Cambridge and Milton Keynes have them. Those are the ones I've seen, not sure of other cities
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u/Pale-Attorney7474 Dec 03 '22
Wait... delivery robots are a real thing? I guess here in NZ we might get them in another 30 years. Maybe.
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u/neromoneon Dec 03 '22
Only in Britain would somebody think that only in Britain would you find delivery robots waiting patiently at the traffic lights.
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u/ratolloko Dec 03 '22
Where I'm from, they would have been stolen and swapped with a potion of drugs each!
Here in Australia, they would have been ran over by car or cyclists because fuck you!
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u/Tileguy0425 Dec 03 '22
This is a thing? Suddenly appreciating living in the middle of nowhere alot more.
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u/AgentParkman Dec 03 '22
Is it rude that I find that to be so cute? 🙇🏼♀️🥹
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u/crucible Dec 03 '22
You'll love what happens when they need help, then:
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u/AgentParkman Dec 03 '22
I have seen. nothing, until today.
-biggest blushy eyes emoji- -biggest titanium heart emoji-
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u/brameshk22 Dec 03 '22
Waiting patiently to colonize at a neighborhood near you.
Assemble the fleet.
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u/lopedopenope Dec 03 '22
I would like to think any robot wouldn’t break these rules anywhere but idk they might go rogue
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u/Dasha3090 Dec 03 '22
aww cute little guys.they had those cleaning robots at changi airport they delighted my daughter.so adorable.
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u/-mindtrix- Dec 03 '22
Free meal for the homeless Robin Hoods
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u/Vickimus1987 Dec 03 '22
They have them where some of my family live and you need to use the app to unlock them once they get to you apparently
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u/Rebel_bass Dec 03 '22
This is stupid. These exact robots have been servicing American campuses for at least three years now.
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Dec 03 '22
I was gonna say, I go to school in East Tennessee, the hillbilly capital of the world, and we have these too
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u/Mowgli2k Dec 03 '22
It's one of those "look how polite people are in Britain " posts. Similar to people imagining we walk around in bowler hats saying toodle pip to each other.
If only. Truth is much of the population are little better than vermin and the place is becoming a shithole, getting worse by the day.
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Dec 03 '22
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u/rosstru Dec 03 '22
From the looks of it they want to cross the street that has the green, so they would be jaywalking/getting hit by cars.
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u/zenithtb Dec 03 '22
jaywalking
Is an American thing - does not exist here - we just call it "crossing the road".
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u/rosstru Dec 03 '22
At any rate, would still be crossing when there could be moving and oncoming traffic. That said, did not know jaywalking (specifically crossing the street when you arent supposed to) as term was an American thing, thanks!
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u/Wipedout89 Dec 03 '22
Yep it was a term invented by car manufacturers to push blame for road traffic accidents onto pedestrians instead of car makers. Only country to allow the law was America. In the UK you can sprint across the road whenever you want, it's legal
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u/Fraudulent_Baker Dec 03 '22
That’s a fun fact, but I don’t think OP was implying otherwise.
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u/nixter67 Dec 03 '22
This is not true
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
What isn't true?
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u/nixter67 Dec 03 '22
The headline. Happens in Germany too.
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
It's a joke based on the stereotype of Britons always form an orderly queue
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u/HarveytheHambutt Dec 03 '22
nope. these literally do this all over the US too.
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u/MGC91 Dec 03 '22
It's a joke based on the stereotype of Britons always form an orderly queue
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u/Individual_Ad_2854 Dec 03 '22
What r they delivering? They don't seem large enough to carry much? (General inquiry from an American thanks)
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u/shellofbiomatter Dec 03 '22
About 2 paper bags fit inside.
I used those for grocery shopping for some time
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u/SpiritAnnual5588 Dec 03 '22
And only in America you would see delivery robots smashed at the traffic lights
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u/iMakeBoomBoom Dec 03 '22
Because criminals and juvenile delinquents only live in the US? Huh, I had no idea.
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u/iMakeBoomBoom Dec 03 '22
Only a Brit would claim “Only in Britain” for something that is common in multiple nations. We have these all over on the Purdue University campus (U.S.), and I suspect that is the case on a large contingent of other campuses. Haven’t hit the metro areas yet in the US, though.
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u/briebutterfly Dec 03 '22
They use these little guys at JMU in Harrisonburg, Virginia, to deliver food to students. They cross intersections, are able to avoid hazards, and are extremely adorable.
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u/mfae Dec 03 '22
Is this photo actually from the UK? Because I've seen the same, with the same title, but saying it is in Brazil.
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u/Ok_Transition9858 Dec 03 '22
It's this intersection https://maps.app.goo.gl/xgrwrAaywxFEnv316
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u/blackbear41 Dec 03 '22
If someone gets run over by one can they get free college tuition? Asking for a friend... The struggle is real.
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u/House-of-Questions Dec 03 '22
They look so adorable, with their tiny wheels and little antennas, I almost feel this would be suitable for r/aww
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u/StairheidCritic Dec 03 '22
They might work in 'leafy suburbs' but I strongly doubt they are out 'in the wild' in major cities - the 'young teams' would give them a life-expectancy of less than a WW1 machine-gunner. :)
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