This robot, Gege, is really just a patch for grasping

After watching delivery robots for a while, you start to space out. Is this thing really a robot, or just a cabinet that walks by itself.

Last month I squatted in an apartment lobby for about ten minutes, watching GeGe run back and forth. Dual compartments, top one 40 liters, bottom one 30 liters, the front desk girl stuffed takeout and packages in one by one, it turned around and left, and it could squeeze through a 55-centimeter narrow passage. The screen is tilted at 7 degrees, so people picking up don't have to bend over. In ten minutes it made seven or eight trips, and every trip's cargo was put in by hand.

It bypassed the hardest bone to chew, grasping, by replacing hands with two square boxes. Only things that fit in the box get to be delivered by the robot.

I work in this industry, and seeing this design I feel both impressed and unwilling to accept it. Impressed because the scenario choice is right, hotels and apartments want errand-running, not manipulation, and there's no need to chew on grasping unknown objects just to show off. Unwilling because the whole industry is using this method to dodge the problem.

The judgment is simple. What it solves is human carrying, not object manipulation. If what you want is someone to run an errand for you, it's quite suitable; if you're hoping it will pick up that cup of coffee on the table by itself, then you'll have to wait.

Apartment and hotel scenarios, recommended. Want to use it for real grasping tasks, not recommended.