Refraction AI

Chick-fil-A pilots autonomous robot delivery with Refraction AI

A Chick-fil-A sign

As drone delivery takes flight in the suburbs, a different kind of compact, driverless vehicle is making inroads in cities.

Ground-based robot delivery companies are transforming the urban final mile by using every part of the road to make deliveries. Sidewalks, bike lanes, margins, you name it — autonomous robots from Starship Technologies, Nuro, Kiwibots and others are smart enough to take deliveries anywhere. And they’re being deployed by brands like Safeway, Dominos and merchants using...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/chick-fil-a-pilots-autonomous-robot-delivery-with-refraction-ai

Refraction AI sees big opportunity in Texas

Refraction AI, a last-mile delivery platform and robotics company launched in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has expanded to deliver food in Austin, Texas.

Southside Flying Pizza will be the first Austin business to use Refraction AI’s fleet of 10 Rev-1 robots for automated delivery. Customers will have the option to have the Rev-1 deliver their food with a unique code to unlock the order. Notifications are provided throughout transit. The Rev-1 robots primarily use bike lanes and can carry up to six...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/refraction-ai-sees-big-opportunity-in-texas

REV-1 robot takes on snow for last-mile delivery

Refraction AI entered into the $80 billion robotics market in 2019 with a mission to bring a practical, economical and deployable robot to the last-mile delivery space. 

While working at the University of Michigan’s Robotics Program, co-founders Matthew Johnson-Roberson and Ram Vasudevan noticed a gap in autonomous vehicle (AV) mobility: extreme weather conditions. The pair developed their “Goldilocks of autonomous vehicles,” REV-1, a last-mile delivery robot that could handle the harsh weather...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rev-1-robot-takes-on-snow-for-last-mile-delivery