Hohhot Delivery Robot Drives into Work Zone, Later Removed by Forklift

A delivery robot recently entered a road construction zone in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, after failing to recognize the barriers and traffic cones set up by workers to close off the area. The vehicle drove straight into the construction site despite repeated attempts by staff to stop it, and eventually someone threw a reflective cone at the robot.

The operator of the delivery robot said the vehicle perceives its surroundings through cameras and lidar, with onboard systems making driving decisions.

Another similar incident exposed limitations in the delivery robot's algorithm. The robot encountered a truck on a narrow road where the two vehicles could not pass each other, and the truck's large size made reversing difficult. The robot neither detoured nor backed up, remaining stationary for nearly 20 minutes. Eventually, workers used a forklift to move the robot off the road.

These incidents show that while delivery robots can complete tasks in simple scenarios, their algorithms still need improvement for complex traffic situations such as meeting vehicles on narrow roads.