This last-mile delivery startup wants to put robots in bike lanes

A whole host of startups have launched in recent years with the aim of making last-mile deliveries using robots. But a company from Michigan has a new spin on this familiar enterprise: it wants to put those bots in bike lanes, at least part of the time.
Refraction AI came out of stealth last week, unveiling its autonomous delivery robot REV-1 onstage at a TechCrunch event. The company’s co-founder and CEO Matthew Johnson-Roberson, a University of Michigan professor, described the three-wheeled vehicle as a “Goldilocks” solution to last-mile delivery robots — neither too big nor too small.
“lightweight, nimble and fast enough to operate in the bike lane and on the roadway”
REV-1 is larger than most delivery robots, which are about the…

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