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A STUDENT WHOSE CONCERNS ARE PROMPTING CHANGE. >> THIS IS NEW TO PIT’S CAMPUS. IT IS CALLED STARSHIP. STUDENTS ORDER FOOD, THEN THE AUTOMATED COOLER DELIVERS IT USING THE SIDEWALK. >> I HAD WORRIED ABOUT MEETING IT ON A SIDEWALK. DAVID: EMILY ACKERMAN IS A CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PHD AT PITT. SHE LIVES WITH DISABILITIES, AND RELIES ON A WHEELCHAIR TO GET AROUND. SHE SAYS SHE FOUND HERSELF IN A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION YESTERDAY. EMILY ACKERMAN NEEDED TO CROSS FORBES AVENUE. SHE WAS AT THE INTERSECTION HERE WITH BIGELOW. BECAUSE SHE'S IN A WHEELCHAIR, SHE CAN'T SIMPLY STEP DOWN. INSTEAD, SHE ALWAYS HAS TO COME OVER HERE AND USE THE RAMP. ACKERMAN WAS STARTING TO CROSS FORBES AVENUE AND WAS HAVING NO ISSUES. THAT WAS, UNTIL SHE GOT TO THE OTHER SIDE YOU SEE, ONCE SHE GOT TO THE AREA WHERE SHE NEEDED TO GET ON THE SIDEWALK, THERE WAS A STARSHIP UNIT PARKED RIGHT THERE. IT WAS A CROWDED DAY, AND SHE COULDN'T EASILY GET AROUND, LEAVING HER STUCK ON FORBES AVENUE AS TRAFFIC STARTED TO FLOW. AFTER SOME NEGOTIATING, ACKERMAN MADE IT TO THE SIDEWALK, SINCE THE STARSHIP WOULDN’T MOVE. >> I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO REACT, BUT I WAS SCARED TO BE IN THE STREET. AND TO THINK OF ALL THE POSSIBILITIES, SUDDENLY, OF HOW IT COULD CAUSE HARM TO ME AND OTHER PEOPLE. DAVID: ACKERMAN TWEETED HER EXPERIENCE, AND IT GOT THE ATTENTION OF PITT AND STARSHIP. SHE’S SPOKEN WITH REPRESENTATIVES TODAY, AND BOTH TELL PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS 4, THERE’S NOW A PAUSE IN STARSHIP’S USE AROUND CAMPUS. ACKERMAN SAYS ALL THIS IS A REMINDER TO CONSIDER THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYONE’S VOICE IN A NEW, DIGITAL AGE. >> THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW THE DISABLED COMMUNITY IS SUPER DIVERSE AND HAS VERY DIFFERENT NEEDS, AND WHEN WE DESIGN THINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO PUT OUT INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO ADDRESS A WIDE VARIETY OF NEEDS. DAVID: IN OAKLAND, DAVID KAPLAN, PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEW

Advertisement Food delivery robot pauses operations after Monday incident Emily Ackerman relies on a wheelchair for mobility and was trapped on Forbes Avenue when robot wouldn't move Share Shares Copy Link Copy

It's the new toy on the University of Pittsburgh campus: Starship.The robot is essentially the size of a cooler on wheels. Watch the full story in the video player above. A student can order a snack and the robot will deliver using the sidewalks and crosswalks.For now, though, those deliveries are paused after an incident Monday.Emily Ackerman is a fifth year Ph.D. at Pitt studying chemical engineering. She also happens to live with disabilities.Monday, she was crossing Forbes Avenue when a robot on the ramp wouldn't move to allow her to get on the sidewalk. The light turned green for traffic and Ackerman says she was still in the road."I didn’t know how to react, but I was scared to be in the street and to think of all the possibilities suddenly of how it could cause harm to me and other people," Ackerman said.Fortunately, she was able to hop a curb and negotiate around the Starship. Starship tells Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that they take into considerations those living with disabilities, especially the blind.Ackerman says she hopes Starship does more, though."This is a great opportunity for discussion about how the disabled community is super diverse and has very different needs, and when we design things that we’re going to put out into the public domain, we need to think about how we’re going to address a wide variety of needs," Ackerman says.No word yet on when Starship will be back up and running on Pitt's campus.After Pittsburgh's Action News 4 reporter David Kaplan's report, Starship issued the statement below: "We are always grateful when any potential issues are flagged to us that can help make us better. We have reviewed the footage from the reported incident yesterday afternoon and are glad to see that Emily was able to travel past the robot without stopping. We take matters like this very seriously and have made an update to the mapping at this particular intersection as an added precaution to ensure that additional room is added, as well as reviewing other intersections across campus."We work with many community organizations, including people with disabilities, with the aim to ensure everyone feels comfortable with this technology and that we are mindful of the needs of various community members. Autonomous delivery has the promise to be a welcomed help to many people with disabilities by assisting in the ease of getting groceries, food and packages delivered directly to their doorsteps. We have done work with organizations such as Guide Dogs, Royal National Institute for the Blind and Disability Rights but we can always do more."After safely traveling 350,000 miles and completing over 100,000 deliveries so far, we look forward to working closely with people in Pittsburgh to continue offering a service that can benefit all members of the community."