April 30, 2025

By Patricia Waldron

For delivery robots, not all sidewalks are created equal – some are uneven or clogged with people and bus shelters – so researchers at Cornell Tech developed a “robotability score” and rated every street in New York City on how hospitable it would be to robots.

Their rating system is the first of its kind, researchers said, and may help urban planners and robotics companies plan for future robot deployments that won’t disrupt existing sidewalk environments.