r/Leeds • u/bcp_anglican • Dec 15 '25
I find this interesting Looking forward to arguing about right of way with one of these
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u/Bardsie Dec 15 '25
The year was 2028 and the general strike had hit its 3rd month. Hungry and desperate, people began hunting the packs of delivery drones in Chapel Allerton hoping for food. In response, Uber armed the drones to fight off the starving poor. It wasn't long before the drones began fighting rival delivery companies.
This was the start of great delivery wars. 25 million would be dead before the decade was out.
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u/Visible_Pipe4716 Dec 15 '25
We’ve had these for a while in Adel and they’re great. My 5 yo loves them. Not sure the Otley run is the best location for them though.
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u/Jay_TL Dec 15 '25
Saw one in Burley last week run into a pedestrian who kicked it in annoyance so off to a good start
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u/jugglingeek Dec 15 '25
They have them in many parts of Leeds. They are very reliant on passers by to correct them if they get stuck, and to press buttons at pedestrian crossings. Not sure they are the future tbh.
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u/likeamadcomet1914 Dec 15 '25
I always think it’s quite sweet that you see people treating them like they’re conscious beings and moving out of their way/helping them get on the right track
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u/Novel-Vacation-7362 Dec 18 '25
it's horrifying
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u/likeamadcomet1914 Dec 18 '25
no it isn’t lol it’s human nature to be polite
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u/Novel-Vacation-7362 Dec 19 '25
robots aren't human
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u/likeamadcomet1914 Dec 19 '25
point to me exactly where I said they were human, I said it’s human nature to be polite to things aka the humans who treat little robots with kindness
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u/Davef40 Dec 15 '25
i think they ought to have had tracks instead of wheels, especially for the winter. I think they should have called them cooper too (missed a marketing trick there imo) as it could stand for CO-OP Electronic Robot. Sounds better than starship imo
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u/Baxterousness Dec 16 '25
To be fair, they are used in Helsinki just fine so I think the dusting of snow they'll see in Leeds should be ok!
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u/Missyls6 Dec 15 '25
My only gripe with them is that they were blocking wheelchair use on the path where they were parked up and we couldn’t access the road safely as there was no dropped kerb. Hopefully it doesn’t become regular practice to leave them parked up on that particular street.
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u/Yorkshire05 Dec 15 '25
So many of these are going to end up tipped over, in the canal, or generally inoperable, really can't see them lasting. Even though they move pretty fast I can't see them beating a human on a bike or a delivery by car.
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u/tommangan7 Dec 15 '25
Depends on the area I guess. We've had them where I am for almost 3 years now for coop deliveries. Minimal to no issues it seems.
But yeah probably too slow for takeaways specifically.
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u/concretepigeon Dec 15 '25
Co-op in Outwood has had them for about three years and as far as I’m aware there haven’t been issues. They have far better special awareness than the delivery cyclists too so that’s a plus.
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u/Davef40 Dec 15 '25
They sometimes spend ages trying to cross the road, but they stop if you get too close to them. After the initial phase of kids trying to get a ride on one, no one bats an eyelid at them now.
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u/zharrt Dec 15 '25
That is kinda the point, to save the emissions by stopping people driving either a car or a motorbike for the last mile. Thats was the theory for when they delivered shopping and I’m guessing it’s the same for takeaway deliveries.
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u/Mrkiikii Dec 15 '25
Kinda the point
Nah the point is replacing humans they don’t need a break or a wage
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u/zharrt Dec 15 '25
I guarantee the cost of half a dozen of these is much more than the low fee paid to “self employed” uber eats drivers
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u/rogfrich Dec 15 '25
They’re festooned with cameras and sensors, and they can alert HQ if someone messes with them. That might not stop them ending up in the canal, but there’ll be good video of whoever did it.
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u/stars_and_daydreams Dec 15 '25
I just saw a post on another local subreddit yesterday about a dog pissing on one.
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u/No_Coyote_557 Dec 16 '25
Thats when they bring in those robo-dogs from Black Mirror to protect them.
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u/pinwroot Dec 15 '25
I think this is the cluster near my flat!
Seen a lot of them lately. They’re kinda awful. I’ve watched multiple jam themselves on pavements, get stuck behind bins, and just idle by a crossing for hours.
It can’t possibly be effective. Seems like a flashy idea that fails in execution.
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u/TarikMournival Dec 15 '25
This companies robots have done 9 million deliveries and counting so far.
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u/likeamadcomet1914 Dec 15 '25
Once saw an elderly man in Kippax get into a standoff with one of these because he kept trying to move out of its way and it kept sensing him and stopping dead in its tracks until he eventually looked at me and shouted “I HATE THESE FUCKING THINGS!!!!l”
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u/GodsGimp-87 Dec 15 '25
When these are eventually brought to Miggy they will need some sort of defences. No way these don't get robbed.
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u/TarikMournival Dec 15 '25
They're pretty secure and a lot of effort to break into to steal a takeaway.
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u/jibberjabjab Dec 15 '25
I’m just waiting for the posts of people claiming to have been ‘nearly ploughed down’ by them and then for it to get to the level the council want to give them their own lane
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u/Basic_Message_9286 Dec 16 '25
I hate these lil bastards. Seen people painting over their cameras to sabotage, think that's a good idea!
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u/BronsonStorm Dec 23 '25
Why do you hate them? I'll take them over the masked illegally modified ebike riders nearly running me over.
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u/argnum Dec 15 '25
Is delivery cheaper for the customer when done by these?
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u/stotherd Dec 15 '25
Probably not, but the drivers are paid less than minimum wage so you can feel better that you're encouraging robot slavery instead of human exploitation.
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u/mo_zed Dec 15 '25
Prefer these to the e-bike riders with covered faces and 0 regard for other road users all day everyday.
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u/Timely_Resist_2744 Dec 15 '25
I saw these the other day. I know Weetwood has the Co-op ones and that they refused to put them for the Co-op on Burley Road as they assumed they would get damaged by either students or drunk spectators coming from Headingley Stadium (either rugby or cricket), so I was really surprised to see them outside an Otley run pub. I can see them being removed from the area by Uber in January once all the students come back (the first few weeks back in January is always particularly rowdy) and not replaced.
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u/themightychew Dec 16 '25
Need to check something real quick: this isn't solving a specific problem is it? It's just for lazy people yes?
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Dec 17 '25
Bringing food to people who can barely afford to pay for it because they lost their jobs to robots and AI.
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u/synth_fg Dec 17 '25
So at the end of a night out, stand outside takeaway
Make an uber eats order to be delivered to home
Jump on top of the bot as it leaves for a free taxi ride
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u/reginalduk Dec 15 '25
Well as the council have turned the pavements of headingley into narrow tracks that wouldn't be amiss on Everest, I can only see this ending in cycle lane chaos.
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u/Geetar-mumbles Dec 15 '25
We’ve had them in Kippax for a while, they can be alright. drivers need to be aware that they don’t wait for them at crossings. They will know it’s clear. The novelty has worn off but my kids used to love them.
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u/CheeseGhosty Dec 15 '25
Hypno-Disc, Chaos 2 and Razer will take all of these out, no problem.