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Hear from Craig Desjardins, the Director of Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships at one of the most innovative cities in North America - Kingston, Ontario, Canada - being interviewed by Lee St James, URF's Managing Director, about the best practices for preparing for urban robots and drones to positively impact city operations.

An incredibly agile mobile robot that turns on a dime and traverses all kinds of terrain. So excited to see this in person and explore use cases.

View this webinar to take a deep dive into the challenge of Pick-up & Drop-off (PUDO) at the curbside for cities planning ahead for the integration of robotaxis, automated delivery trucks and public-area mobile robots (PMRs). URF's Executive Director, Bern Grush, leads a panel discussion featuring: - David Carson Lipscomb, Curbside Manager for District Department of Transportation (DDoT), Washington DC - Rachel Castignoli, Senior Business Process Consultant, Transportation and Public Works, City of Austin - Shawn McCormick, Parking Enforcement Director, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency For more information, visit: https://www.urbanroboticsfoundation.org/event-details/managing-pick-up-and-drop-off-at-the-curb

Hosted by URF's Managing Director, Lee St James, this informative webinar summarizes the key content available in URF's "2025 Executive Guide to Public-area Mobile Robots: What you need to know". Bringing the content into context for both government planners and innovation companies, we also hear form two guest speakers: Vignesh (Viggy Ram), VP Public Policy at Serve Robotics and Doug McCollough, Executive Director ICF Institute, Dublin, OH. Vignesh Ram is Vice President of Public Policy with Serve Robotics, where he leads public affairs engagement for the future of robotic on-demand delivery. He most recently served on the policy teams at Match Group and Postmates, where his work focused on antitrust, the future of work, privacy, robotics, mobility, and how tech intersects with our communities. Additionally, Vignesh serves on the board of Loud Light, an organization driving youth progressive action in Kansas through voter engagement and outreach. He began his career staffing Vice President Kamala Harris's first run for Attorney General of California, and through 2018, Vignesh headed policy and the racial justice project for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas, building a community-focused civil rights agenda in the Midwest. He is a graduate of the University of California - Santa Cruz, University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law, and a 2020-21 Harvard Kennedy School fellow. Doug McCollough works to connect people to opportunities, remove barriers, and promote change in initiatives ranging from Smart and Connected Cities, IT Workforce Development, expanding broadband access, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, and Smart Mobility. Doug now serves as the Executive Director of The Beta District in Central Ohio, which organizes innovation, development, and investment in Smart Mobility industry sectors, as well as Executive Director of the Intelligent Community Forum Institute in Dublin, Ohio. He speaks as a Subject Matter Expert and advocate on using technology for community development. The Executive Guide is available as a free download on URF's website: https://www.urbanroboticsfoundation.org/guidebooks

Exploring the regulatory landscape for public-area mobile robots (PMRs): Implementing new technologies in public spaces brings with it many challenges for governments at all levels. Around the world we are seeing mobile technologies that operate on sidewalks and in shopping malls, move on bike paths, cross intersections, and perform a variety of functions from last mile delivery to cleaning to transporting passengers. How can municipalities effectively manage these mobility innovations? Hosted by the Urban Robotics Foundation, this session brings together a panel of experts to share their thoughts on how good governance and regulations can contribute to improved safety and successful deployment of public-area mobile robots and other mobility innovations. Estonia is one of the only countries in the world that has amended their national traffic act with guidance for how to regulate PMRs. Mark E. Talivere, an innovation expert at the Tallinn Strategic Management Office, will be joining the conversation to discuss Estonia's unique regulatory approach to public-area mobile robots, including its amendments to the national traffic act and insights from Tallinn's pilot projects and innovations. Pedro Homem de Gouveia, Senior Policy Advisor and Project Manager, Governance & Integration + Safety & Security at POLIS network, is an expert on Accessibility and Universal Design; Public Space and Sustainable Urban Mobility; Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming; Strategy and Innovation in Cities. He will share his thoughts regarding key lessons and best practices for cities to integrate these new technologies effectively.

Featuring guest speakers: Dr. Hannah Pelikan, Dr. Stuart Reeves, Lisa Johnson Although mobile robots have been around industrial warehouses and factories for decades, they are appearing more often now in public spaces and being used for a variety of tasks around 'bystanders'. So how do people interact with these robots when they have not had any training? What are robot designers doing to help people be more comfortable? How can we collaborate to improve human-robot interactions? If you are a smart city planner, accessibility advocate, mobility innovator or technology designer interested in the social acceptance of robots, this session will offer new perspectives on how people interact with robots and vice versa. We invite you to review the article "Encountering Autonomous Robots on Public Streets" published in March 2024 that was awarded 'best paper' at the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. Two of the three authors will join our panel discussion. https://robotsinpublic.org/hri-2024-paper.html This webinar is sponsored by the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (www.CITM.ca). CITM specializes in helping businesses take electrified, connected, and autonomous vehicle innovations from ideation to commercialization and scale-up.

On October 2, 2024, this webinar featured guest speakers Matt Benson (FLITE) and Vivek Burhanpurkar (Cyberworks Robotics). Our host was Richard Dunda, director of the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM) - part of OVIN (Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network). Public-area Mobile Robots - are they coming soon to an airport near you? Sponsored by the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility, this webinar brings together a panel of experts who will share highlights from recent pilot projects related to the FLITE program at the Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford Airport in Michigan. Our panel included: Matt Benson, partner at Seamless Ventures and Program Manager for FLITE (Ford Launchpad for Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship) - whose mandate is to test innovative technologies (including autonomous robotics) for airports. The Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority, in collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Seamless Ventures, Southwest Airlines® and the West Michigan Aviation Academy, has introduced the Ford Launchpad for Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship, or FLITE, which provides grants and pilot-testing opportunities to companies focused on bringing emerging air travel technology solutions to market. This is one of the first airport-based initiatives in the nation that provides funding to encourage the design and development of new products and services in a live airport environment. Vivek Burhanpurkar, CEO, Cyberworks Robotics Cyberworks Robotics, a client at CITM, offers industrial tow tugs, industrial floor cleaners and personal mobility vehicles (wheelchair robots). Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and mobile equipment have not achieved the mass adoption that was predicted five years ago. This is because a number of “edge-case” problems have proven more difficult to solve than developers had predicted. These edge-cases cause AMRs to periodically fail and require operator interventions, sometimes several times per hour, which is not acceptable by commercial standards. Cyberworks Robotics has solved these edge-cases for AMRs and industrial equipment applications such as floor scrubbing, material handling, indoor logistics and personal indoor transport, resulting in a 99% reduction in operator interventions in complex dynamic commercial environments like airports and grocery stores. For more information, visit: https://www.urbanroboticsfoundation.org/about-urf https://citm.ca/

On October 2, 2024, this webinar featured guest speakers Matt Benson (FLITE) and Vivek Burhanpurkar (Cyberworks Robotics). Our host was Richard Dunda, director of the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM) - part of OVIN (Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network). https://www.urbanroboticsfoundation.org/event-details/pmrs-in-airports-improving-accessibility-helping-clean-expediting-delivery-and-more Public-area Mobile Robots - are they coming soon to an airport near you? Sponsored by the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility, this webinar brings together a panel of experts who will share highlights from recent pilot projects related to the FLITE program at the Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford Airport in Michigan. Our panel included: Matt Benson, partner at Seamless Ventures and Program Manager for FLITE (Ford Launchpad for Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship) - whose mandate is to test innovative technologies (including autonomous robotics) for airports. The Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority, in collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Seamless Ventures, Southwest Airlines® and the West Michigan Aviation Academy, has introduced the Ford Launchpad for Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship, or FLITE, which provides grants and pilot-testing opportunities to companies focused on bringing emerging air travel technology solutions to market. This is one of the first airport-based initiatives in the nation that provides funding to encourage the design and development of new products and services in a live airport environment. Vivek Burhanpurkar, CEO, Cyberworks Robotics Cyberworks Robotics, a client at CITM, offers industrial tow tugs, industrial floor cleaners and personal mobility vehicles (wheelchair robots). Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and mobile equipment have not achieved the mass adoption that was predicted five years ago. This is because a number of “edge-case” problems have proven more difficult to solve than developers had predicted. These edge-cases cause AMRs to periodically fail and require operator interventions, sometimes several times per hour, which is not acceptable by commercial standards. Cyberworks Robotics has solved these edge-cases for AMRs and industrial equipment applications such as floor scrubbing, material handling, indoor logistics and personal indoor transport, resulting in a 99% reduction in operator interventions in complex dynamic commercial environments like airports and grocery stores.

Sponsored by the Intelligent Community Forum and held on July 9, 2024. Bern Grush and Lee St James host a panel discussion featuring guest speakers: Michelle Crandall, City Manager, City of Hilliard, Ohio USA Kalle Killar, Business Director, Tallinn Strategic Management Office, Tallinn, Estonia Robert Bell, Co-Founder, Intelligent Community Forum