Starship Technologies delivery robots in Cambridge have been spotted queuing patiently at a pedestrian crossing, prompting amusement among residents. Cyclist Naomi Davies observed seven robots waiting at the junction of Coleridge Road and Davy Road on Tuesday evening.
Ms Davies said the robots waited through three changes of traffic lights before the first one crossed. 'I thought the first one was going to go when the lights changed but it just started manoeuvring and shuffled about a bit and then stopped,' she explained.
One robot asked a passer-by to press the button for it. 'One of the robots asked a lady if she would please press the button - I think she was rather surprised a robot was speaking to her,' Ms Davies said.
A Starship Technologies spokesperson said: 'The robots make more than 140,000 road crossings every day around the world... Most of these crossings are done autonomously, but on the rare occasion assistance is required, the robots can be monitored remotely.'
The spokesperson added: 'It's also true that every now and then the robots are not shy in asking a friendly resident for help if they can't quite reach the button... But they're also very happy to wait in a queue - they are in England, after all.'
