Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) will spend the next half-decade working with dog-like delivery robots on campus to see how people interact with them, Austin-based media outlets reported.
The university said the five-year study will also look into the successful makings of a robot delivery network, per a press release.
Since the robots are an uncommon sight, UT has urged students, faculty and visitors alike not to be alarmed, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported.
“Robotic systems are becoming more ubiquitous,” Dr. Luis Sentis, an associate professor in UT’s Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and the project’s overseer, said, according to the school. “In addition to programming robots to perform a realistic task such as delivering supplies, we will be able to gather observations to help develop standards for safety, communication and behavior to allow these future systems to be useful and safe in our community.”
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported that the robots are making campuswide deliveries of wipes and hand sanitizers, to which Sentis said was inspired by the high demand for them during the onset and height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for $3.6 million funded the study, KVUE reported.
UT’s release said that the Boston Dynamics and Unitree constructed the robots.
As the life of the project progresses, according to the release, the robotic canines will work in pairs under the watch of chaperones up close and others from a distance.
KXAN reported that several UT professors will play different roles in the study.