O n a recent Wednesday night, a battle of man versus machine plays out near Tempe Town Lake. On one side: three dudebros in their early 20s. On the other: a pair of 3-foot-2 black-and-white Dax security robots. The robots sternly inform the men they’re tres- passing on the IDEA Tempe Campus after the trio rode their Onewheels onto the property. In the middle is Adam Pioth, playing the role of peacekeeper. He’s talking the guys down and trying to prevent them from punting either bot’s plastic head. “Just don’t kick their heads,” Pioth says. He’s successful. The tense moment is defused. Minutes later, everyone is all smiles, including the robots. These particular security automata are known as Dax robots — stout little machines with treaded wheels, googly digital eyes and a charming, kid-movie vibe that makes them look like they rolled straight out of a Pixar film. According to their maker — Oregon robotics company Daxbot — they’ve even been mistaken for the offspring of EVE and WALL-E. (Totally unintentional, the company swears.) Play nice, and their eyes turn into hearts or smiles. Trespass on the property they’re monitoring, and they’ll fire off a firm warning — though it’s hard to take too seri- ously coming from bots this cute. A trio of Dax robots have been patrol- ling the IDEA Tempe Campus since January, when they were brought in by Phoenix-based Transcend Security Solutions through a partnership with Daxbot. Pioth, a Tempe resident and founder of the local cannabis social group AZ Smoking Team, has a soft spot for the ’bots. “I got this weird empathy for robots,” Pioth says. “It’s like with a dog or certain animals. If I saw someone kicking a dog, I’d stop ’em. I used to joke around, but I could probably fall in love with a robot. It’s weird to even say that, but not now.” Since discovering the Dax robots in February, he’s visited the property dozens of times to interact with his bot buddies. He’s also posted 20 Instagram videos of their interactions — two of which went viral, racking up a combined 9 million views. In one, Pioth smokes pot in front of the bot; in the other, he playfully hides from its view and places a sticker on its chassis. Pioth says his robot fascination devel- oped in recent years, coinciding with the rise of service bots and autonomous vehi- cles that have emerged in the Valley. “I’ve always been obsessed with self- driving cars and stuff like that,” Pioth says. “It’s pretty cool, right? Sounds pretty neat — like, whoa, the future is now.” As Pioth walks away from the IDEA Tempe Campus, his day takes a sudden turn. Two Tempe cops roll up and question him. Someone has accused him of damaging the Dax robots and trespassing on the property, which is owned by the Boyer Company, a Phoenix commercial real estate developer. The police tell him not to return. “I’ve never damaged them ever. If anything, I’ve stopped violence against it,” Pioth later tells Phoenix New Times. “Yeah, I blew smoke at it, but it’s a robot. It doesn’t have lungs.” Pioth is heartbroken but defiant. Like a newly divorced dad determined to see his robo-kids, he plans to stick to a nearby public walking path alongside Tempe Town Lake and the campus. “I can record on the sidewalk, so I will be back,” he says. “Or there are more out there. I can build a bond with another robot.” He’s got plenty to choose from. Metro Phoenix is becoming home to more service robots, driverless vehicles and other automata than in years past. Sky Harbor Airport is the first in the world where an automated car can pick you up curbside. Arizona State University’s Tempe campus is a testing ground for delivery bots — and has the medical bills to prove it. And if you squint, you might see a drone buzzing up to your porch to drop off your latest impulse buy. If you haven’t bonded with a robot yet, just wait. They’re coming to make your acquaintance. Rise of the robots Companies like Waymo, Amazon and DoorDash are using local streets, sidewalks and skies to test their services and tech. Bots are bringing us food at restaurants or with delivery drones. Robo-mops are cleaning up after us while security droids like Dax are monitoring properties. Steve Kane, a service robot consultant with Pringle Robotics in Chandler, says awareness in the cleaning and waiter bots sold by the company has “more than doubled” in the past two years. “Our phones have been ringing constantly and it feels like we’re in an upswing,” he says. “There’s been a 40% to 50% increase in restaurants. Not all of them are buying, but they’re interested.” Why, fellow carbon-based lifeforms, has the Valley become a robo-haven? Heni Amor, an associate professor with ASU’s School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, says favorable weather and other incentives have enticed companies to use the Valley as a robot lab. “Phoenix has started to be known as an optimal place to run pilot (programs) where you try out autonomous robots,” Amor says. “One of the main reasons for the initial success with autonomous driving was the weather here and basically the urban planning here with everything on a grid.” Local laws and politics have played a role too, he adds — including a 2018 bill introduced by then-State Rep. Kelly Townsend that granted autonomous robots the same rights as pedestrians. “That sort of incentivized these compa- nies to come here, and it really mostly started with Waymo coming to Phoenix,” Amor says. In turn, Waymo, the autonomous ride- sharing service that launched its pilot program in Phoenix in 2022, has been a game-changer for service robots here, along with Starship Technologies’ food-delivery drones, which arrived at ASU in 2020. “Their success here speaks to (other tech) companies, and that’s a really good thing for Arizona,” Amor says. “It shows we’re leading the world in adopting robotics. People from all over the world come here to try out things like Waymo cars and Starship food-delivery robots.” As you’re ferried home from the bar in a driverless robot car or receiving BY BENJAMIN LEATHERMAN Why Phoenix has become a laboratory for an invasion of robots. >> p 13
