Sign up to see the future, today<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tough to be a robot on the mean streets of Philadelphia. Infamous for brutally destroying an experimental hitchhiking robot<\/a> in 2015, residents in the city of brotherly love are now sharing their sidewalks with a new kind of pedestrian: delivery robots.<\/p>\n A video recorded by Philadelphia street photographer Hugh Dillon late Saturday night shows that the city\u2019s reputation as a haven for robophobia hasn\u2019t improved much over the years. In the 30 second clip, the little bot is kicked, sat on, laughed at, and even humped by a crowd of onlookers as it prattles along to its destination.<\/p>\n After escaping the crowd\u2019s wrath, the robot ambles over past Dillon, who\u2019s able to get a clear shot of graffiti reading \u201cDESTROY ME PLZ\u201d scrawled on its plastic chassis.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly thought it was done for,\u201d Dillon wrote<\/a> in the video caption. \u201cOne wanted to throw it, another sat on it. another person wrote destroy me on it\u2026 Then it calmly rolled on its merry way.\u201d<\/p>\n Another video shared on Instagram<\/a>, presumably taken at an earlier point, shows the same bot rumbling along to deliver some food with the same graffiti scribbled on its exterior. <\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t even know where the f*** he\u2019s going bro,\u201d a Philly resident hollers after the robot. \u201cF***ing re***d.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cROB HIM OF HIS COPPER IMMEDIATELY,\u201d another enterprising Philadelphian commented.<\/p>\n The robots come courtesy of a partnership between Uber and robotics company Avride. According to local reporting<\/a>, each autonomous delivery vehicle has a one to two mile radius, and a maximum speed of five miles per hour.<\/p>\n Similar robotics companies have already worn out their welcome in other US cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, as their delivery bots hog sidewalks<\/a>, injure residents<\/a>, and rampage through gardens<\/a>. Compared to those cities, the gadgets are relatively new to the 215 \u2014 but given the city\u2019s infamously short fuse<\/a>, you can bet the good people of Philly are just getting warmed up.<\/p>\n More on delivery robots: Large Area of Chicago Bans Delivery Robots After Resident Outcry<\/a><\/p>\n \t