Robot food delivery coming to Florida through Uber Eats partnership with Cartken

MIAMI - If you’re a fan of food delivery services, you could see some big changes happening soon. 

Your next Uber Eats order could be delivered by a robot! 

Uber Eats has already started up a pilot program for robot deliveries in Miami. 

They’re made by a company called Cartken, whose CEO and Co-founder, Christian Bersch, says he isn’t trying to replace human delivery drivers, but rather, complement them. 

"In areas where it’s relatively close where it might not be worth the delivery driver to park, get the food, and drive just a mile, that’s I think where the robots can add the most value," Bersch explained.

The robots are small electric vehicles that use about the same energy as an incandescent light bulb to run.

"They’re very environmentally friendly, so that’s one aspect of it," said Bersch. "They don’t clog up streets or parking for the mall or the neighborhood like some human delivery driver may do."

Bersch says the way it works is, when you order your food, you may get a notification saying your delivery driver will actually be a robot.

"When the robot arrives, they get another notification that the robot is in front of your door, then they can walk out and unlock it through the app and retrieve their food," he continued. "Then they close it, the robot confirms its empty, then returns back to the mall to get their next food order." 

Cartken says it’s already looking at other cities in Florida that might be good places to expand. The program with Uber Eats has already begun in Miami. 

"We're thrilled to partner with Cartken to bring autonomous deliveries to Miami residents," said Javier Correoso, Head of South Public Policy for Uber. "This partnership brings the opportunity to help local restaurants, reduce congestion, and serve Miami-Dade consumers with a little Uber magic."