For passengers at the airport, accessing a beverage on the way to their gates might soon become easier.
That’s because Pittsburgh International Airport announced that it is partnering with a California-based tech startup to pilot the company’s fully autonomous delivery robots within PIT's airside terminal. Ottonomy.IO will be partnering with the airport’s xBridge Innovation Center, which through various partnerships, allows the airport to operate as a proof-of-concept and pilot site for new technologies.
Currently, volunteer airport passengers and airport staff are able to order and receive bottled water from the “Ottobots” at designated drop-off points on the Airside Terminal, according to the PIT’s Blue Sky News publication. The publication has a video of the robots operating within the airport, showing posted signage encouraging passengers to scan a QR code so that they can order a free drink and then wait at their gate for it to be delivered.
But the co-founder and CEO of Santa Monica-based Ottonomy.IO says that the company’s vision is for the robots to be able to deliver any products sold in the airport’s stores to passengers at their gate. The company’s delivery robots, which do not require any human assistance, are currently deployed at multiple airports in the U.S. and Europe.
"Airports are dynamic and crowded environments, and are a perfect testbed for real-world deployments of Ottobots," Ritukar Vijay, co-founder and CEO of Ottonomy Inc. said in a release. "Ottobot provides the only fully autonomous delivery experience for indoor and outdoor environments. We are seeing tremendous interest in our technology from leading airports and organizations across the globe."
The robots currently undergoing testing at PIT are the “Ottobot 2.0,” model, Blue Sky News reports. According to Vijay, the robots were upgraded following a trial at the Cincinnati/North Kentucky International Airport in order to improve maneuverability and user accessibility.
Vijay also said that the PIT airport presents a new challenge for the Ottobots to navigate, as via the xBridge Innovation Center, Carnegie Robotics is currently operating its autonomous cleaning robots within the terminal. But the Ottobots are able to navigate within crowds and unpredictable environments, the company says, utilizing its proprietary Contextual Mobility Navigation platform.
"We are committed to providing the best customer experiences by discovering and implementing innovative solutions that utilize cutting-edge technology," Cole Wolfson, xBridge director, said in a release. "Pittsburgh International Airport's xBridge has built a culture of innovation and we are excited to partner with Ottonomy to advance this technology in an airport environment."
