[big_whack]

I see basically zero chance of consumer delivery robots being economical. Self-driving cars also have a low chance of panning out IMO -- it will not take many more incidents to kill the industry -- but if self-driving cars did pan out it would at least be a service I would use.

In contrast to SDCs, the delivery robots I have seen are bulky and take up a lot of sidewalk space. In contrast to delivery people, they don't climb stairs. If they did climb stairs, I don't want to be stuck behind one. As with SDCs, most people hate these things.

I think if they were humanoid-shaped it would help with some issues (take less space, climb stairs) but introduce other issues (less carrying capacity, far more complex/expensive). The only consumer-facing robot I've seen so far that solves a problem in my life, is the Roomba+competitors. I'm pretty skeptical that consumer robotics will be a big part of the future.