'Oi robot, you want to fight?': Food delivery rider challenges robot at NTU
PHOTO: Screengrab/TikTok/_aimalmustakim_
PUBLISHED ONApril 13, 2021 4:28 AMByMardhiah Haslan
A food delivery rider recently got up close and personal as he crossed paths with the future of food delivery — a robot — in a TikTok video posted on April 11.
The amusing clip showed the pair in a face-off as the rider threw down the gauntlet to the friendly looking robot at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
He bantered with the droid in a mixture of Malay and English, saying, "Oi robot, you want to fight? I do the delivering of food here okay. I work at GrabFood, not you."
When the bot moved towards him, the rider asked, "Where are you going? Oi, oi!"
But it went on its merry way, crossing the road in front of him while avoiding any physical contact with the rider.
Many TikTok users were tickled by the exchange, with one commenting: "Robots are taking over."
"Pity it, he is also trying to find income," wrote another.
The self-driving droid is one of Singapore's first outdoor delivery robots named FoodBots, and they've been delivering food to hungry folks across NTU's campus since June last year.
Designed and manufactured by a group of NTU engineering students under their start-up company Whizz, these robots are operated remotely.
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No matter mud or pavement, these robots can navigate different terrains and are programmed to stay on pavements as they travel to their destinations using pre-mapped delivery routes.
As of February this year, five FoodBots have made 6,000 deliveries.
Besides its current collaboration with food delivery mobile application Cates, Whizz said it is exploring other types of delivery.
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