{"id":133872,"date":"2021-12-06T16:30:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T15:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=133872"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:02:41","slug":"robot-rosie-to-serve-entire-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/12\/06\/robot-rosie-to-serve-entire-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Robot Rosie to serve entire campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Wednesday, robot Rosie made her first official trip between the Spar, the Hatta building and the library. On an app, you can order your shopping within five minutes, free of charge. However, the prestige project is not yet able to operate independently with a controller, and it\u2019s uncertain whether it can serve the entire campus.<\/p>\n

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Spar-employee Susanne Reubsaat opens the cart of Robot Rosie. <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeer van Tetterode<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

There\u2019s an icy wind in front of the Hatta building, and it\u2019s pouring with rain on Wednesday afternoon. However, this has not deterred the thirty people waiting. Susanne Reubsaat, \u2018commercial hero\u2019 of the Spar, has just ordered two bottles of coke and a banana on the Spar-University app.<\/p>\n

A small white trolley zigzags through the gateway of Sanders building. In the reading room, students look up in surprise from their lawbooks. Rosie\u2019s supervisor walks slowly behind the robot with a controller, smiling at the spectators. An orange flag towers between the shoulders of the spectators. It takes the robot four and a half minutes to travel from the Spar to the Hatta building. Reubstaat keys in a code displayed on her phone and lifts the trolley\u2019s lid.<\/p>\n

Prestige project<\/h2>

Robot Rosie is a prestige project involving EUR, the municipality of Rotterdam, the metropolitan region of Rotterdam-The Hague, the Spar, and robotics company Dutch Automated Mobility (DAM). For two years, the company tested the trolley. So far, its development has cost 100,000 euros in subsidy and sponsor money, says DAM manager Alwin Bakker. Most of that budget was spent on legal matters.<\/p>\n

Within six months, the developers hope that the trolley will be a permanent feature on campus. Marijke Weustink, director Real estate & facilities at EUR, is hoping for a partnership between people and robot. \u201cThis is a unique opportunity to give students the scope to work on it and see whether it could be useful in the future, and thus contribute to innovation in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Familiar<\/h2>

According to Tim Klein, who developed the robot at DAM, the technology behind Rosie has already proved itself but will take some getting used to, for both her and the campus. \u201cIn California, we already see big autonomous vehicles on the provincial roads. We\u2019ve learned from that, and I think that this campus is a good place to try her out.\u201d<\/p>\n

We hear the words \u2018testing for safety risks\u2019. Words which don\u2019t seem suited to this somewhat unassuming robot trolley. The main issue is ensuring that the robot doesn\u2019t collide with anything.<\/p>\n

The developers want to test safety risks, among others. The primary danger is that the robot will collide with something. \u201cRosie has built-in cameras and sensors which measure how far away an object is and tries to steer her around it. But we are now trying to perfect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bakker assures us that the cameras do not violate anyone\u2019s privacy. \u201cNo one need worry about being secretly filmed. We don\u2019t store any images. The filming is merely for navigation purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes that students and staff will soon become familiar with Rosie. We know from testing that there are few safety issues, but you learn most in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question<\/h2>

According to director Bakker, earlier consumer research has shown that customers are prepared to pay at least two and a half euros for a robot delivery. After three months, that is what the Spar will charge for orders.<\/p>\n

However, can one robot serve an estimated 3300 regular campus visitors per day? Bakker thinks it can: \u201cAfter six months, we hope we might be able to introduce more robots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosie is more about action than words. After her lid is opened, she quickly trundles off.<\/p>\n\n\t

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