Overview
- Serve Robotics, which on Tuesday posted an apology ad at the West Town stop it damaged, addressed neighbors with a message from its robot reading “Nasir is sorry.”
- The company said all three of the robot’s sensor systems failed to detect the shelter’s glass wall, and it has improved glass recognition, added extra caution near shelters, and is updating software and next‑generation hardware.
- A Coco delivery robot struck a different bus shelter in Old Town days later, and both companies say they paid for repairs that were completed quickly after videos of the crashes spread online.
- Chicago allows sidewalk delivery robots under a City Council pilot approved in 2022 that runs through May 2027, with Coco launching in late 2024 and Serve rolling out in September.
- Public pushback has grown through a petition with thousands of signatures, a new 311 complaint category for robot issues, and a February move by Ald. Daniel La Spata to limit expansion in his ward.