Robohub.org
 

Hotel delivery robot debuts in Silicon Valley

by
13 August 2014



share this:

Savioke, a start-up headed by ex-Willow Garage CEO Steve Cousins, has provided Aloft Hotels with a robotic butler. Aloft Cupertino is the first to use the new SaviOne delivery robot.

Aloft Hotels are a boutique brand of Starwood Hotels that focus on techie features such as Apple TV in-room services and the needs of the ‘always on’ generation of traveler. The first SaviOne robot, named A.L.O. Botlr by the Aloft Hotels team, and dressed in a vinyl collared uniform with a name tag, started today, and several more SaviOnes will be added in coming months.

The A.L.O. “Botlr” robot prioritizes multiple guest deliveries, communicates with guests and various hotel platforms, as well as efficiently navigating throughout the property – including the elevator – with speeds up to 4 mph. It will be used to deliver amenities, chargers, cords, snacks and the morning paper. Just before the robot reaches its destination, the system calls the room to alert the guest to open the door and get their delivery.

Steve Cousins, CEO of Savioke, said: “In our early testing, all of us at Savioke have seen the look of delight on those guests who receive a room delivery from a robot. We’ve also seen the front desk get busy at times, and expect Botlr [our SaviOne robot] will be especially helpful at those times, freeing up human talent to interact with guests on a personal level.”

The NY Times questioned whether this new robot was a gimmick or a sign of things to come.

“I see this as an enhancement to our customer service,” said Brian McGuinness, Starwood Hotels’ senior vice president for its Specialty Select brands, which include the 100 Aloft hotels expected to be opened in 14 countries by next year. “It’s not going to be a replacement for our human talent.”

The Times article went on to say that Savioke was interested in a range of service industry applications like assisted living facilities and hotels.

Savioke is both the designer and builder of the ROS-based SaviOne robot. Although not one of the Willow Garage spin-off companies, many ex-Willow Garage employees now work at Savioke.



tags: , , ,


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.





Related posts :



Interview with Dautzenberg Roman: #IROS2023 Best Paper Award on Mobile Manipulation sponsored by OMRON Sinic X Corp.

The award-winning author describe their work on an aerial robot which can exert large forces onto walls.
19 November 2023, by

Robot Talk Episode 62 – Jorvon Moss

In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Jorvon (Odd-Jayy) Moss from Digikey about making robots at home, and robot design and aesthetics.
17 November 2023, by

California is the robotics capital of the world

In California, robotics technology is a small fish in a much bigger technology pond, and that tends to conceal how important Californian companies are to the robotics revolution.
12 November 2023, by

Robot Talk Episode 61 – Masoumeh Mansouri

In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Masoumeh (Iran) Mansouri from the University of Birmingham about culturally sensitive robots and planning in complex environments.
10 November 2023, by

The 5 levels of Sustainable Robotics

Robots can solve the UN SDGs and not just via the application area.
08 November 2023, by

Using language to give robots a better grasp of an open-ended world

By blending 2D images with foundation models to build 3D feature fields, a new MIT method helps robots understand and manipulate nearby objects with open-ended language prompts.
06 November 2023, by





©2021 - ROBOTS Association


 












©2021 - ROBOTS Association