Can sidewalk robots coexist with pedestrians? The urban challenge of autonomous delivery

As I strolled through the bustling sidewalks of downtown Paris last spring, something curious caught my eye—a small, boxy robot, quietly humming along at walking speed, weaving carefully between pedestrians. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it was real. A sidewalk delivery robot, en route to deliver someone’s lunch. Not long after, I saw another. Then another. The question naturally came to my mind: can these robots truly...