February 17, 2022
Crain’s Detroit Business
Nick Manes
Feb. 16, 2022
A new pilot initiative is sending robots to the streets of Detroit. But this is far from RoboCop.
The robots — which hail from a Silicon Valley company — will instead be delivering salads from Planted Detroit, a “controlled environment agriculture farm,” in Detroit’s Islandview neighborhood.
The farm grows an assortment of greens, herbs and other agricultural items year-round, said Julie MacDonald, Planted Detroit’s digital media specialist. Products are also sold in Meijer Inc.’s Rivertown and Woodward Corner markets in Detroit and Royal Oak, respectively.
Delivery customers will meet the delivery robot at one of two locations on Detroit’s east side to acquire their salad.
While Planted Detroit has been delivering produce door-to-door, its pilot project delivering fresh salads via robots from Mountain View, Calif.-based Tortoise began this week and was quickly documented on social media by Crain’s commercial real estate reporter Kirk Pinho.
The initial 30-day pilot program with Tortoise robots represents something of a natural expansion for Planted Detroit, said Zach Matyiku, the grower’s sales manager.
“Controlled environmental agriculture is both an efficient and inefficient type of agriculture,” Matyiku told Crain’s.
“We’re competing against the sun — so that’s difficult — (and) so electricity is always going to be a challenge,” Matyiku added. “But in other ways, we use a lot less water than traditional ag, no pesticides, herbicides ever. And so utilizing this kind of electric technology allows us to lower our carbon footprint, potentially, and it’s just fun and exciting. You know, we’re a technology company ourselves, so partnering with other technology companies makes a lot of sense.”
The Tortoise robots have been deployed in around a dozen places around the U.S., according to the company’s founder Dmitry Shevelenko, who added that the robots are remote-controlled by humans, as opposed to autonomous.
The rollout in Detroit of the aptly-named Tortoise robots — which travel 4-8 mph, said Shevelenko — makes for something of a test with the city’s snowy and icy conditions.
“I would say for sidewalk robotics, Michigan is kind of like the equivalent of the phrase: ‘If you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere,'” he said. “So if you can operate in Detroit in the winter, you can go anywhere.”
