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Given the rush to grab a meal at the airport before boarding a flight, Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has aimed to make the passenger experience smoother by introducing India’s first ever AI-powered food delivery robot. Intended to serve passengers by bringing their food and drinks to gates 33,34 and 35 in the international terminal, as well as between gates 101 and 124 in the domestic terminal, parading the F-level concourse. Said to be a collaborative effort between Refresh24Seven and GMR, the facility enables passengers to place their orders by scanning a QR code at kiosks after checking-in. A secondary option also includes directly scanning a QR code pasted on the body of the robot which is programmed to travel on loop along the gates.
Once scanned, passengers are provided access to menus of Refresh24Seven outlets - which includes restaurant menus from Pista House, Minerva Coffee Shop and United Kitchens of India. The order can be selected and paid for digitally, following which they will receive an OTP to collect their order. The delivery robot is then dispatched to collect the order from the restaurant, where food and drinks are placed securely in its cabins, from where it makes its way to the boarding gates. The OTP is then entered by the passenger on the robot’s screen which unlocks the compartment containing the order.
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This feature ensures that multiple orders are delivered in a secure manner, to the passengers it belongs to. It is believed that drink orders should take an average of 8 minutes to deliver while food deliveries could take up to 15 minutes. Once the order is placed, passengers can also receive real time updates on their mobile devices to track the robot’s movement from the restaurant to the gate. The deployed robot is also being utilised to deliver food to passengers during peak morning hours at breakfast time, with future plans to extend the service to more outlets, boarding gates as well as terminals. The robot is said to have a 12-hour battery life and AI-powered mapping as well as remote control back-up. The machine has also been programmed to briefly interact and say, “Please excuse me, I have a delivery to make,” when encountered with obstacles.
