The Urban Robotics Foundation is pleased to be part of an academic / industry / government collaboration related to mobile robots on city
sidewalks and pathways in #Sweden. The Drive Sweden project ”When delivery robots enter public spaces: A longitudinal study of #Starship robots in Stockholm” funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova is a 2-year project bringing together stakeholders from the Trafikkontoret, Stockholms stad, Swedish Transport Agency, Starship Technologies and the URF.
The project is led by researchers from Linköping University, University of Nottingham and Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). As part of URFs support for the project, our managing director, Lee St. James, took a whirlwind trip to Stockholm last week to participate in the 2026 in-person workshop centered on a framework for translating Video Data Analysis to Policy Implications. The workshop was led by Dr. Hannah Pelikan. She is an assistant professor in language, culture and interaction at Linköping University and a Pro Futura Scientia Fellow Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS).
The goal was to provide input to the research team to help refine their framework for guiding regulatory, standardization and urban planning discussions on mobile robots in public/on the sidewalk.The framework being developed has four key components:
a)Human-Robot Interaction: how robots encounter people in the places they are deployed into
b) Human Activities: what people do in public places where robots are deployed
c) Urban Environment: what existing environments robots get deployed into
d) Robot Infrastructure: how robot fleet operation integrates with city infrastructure
The project draws on #ethnography and #EMCA methods to document interactions between robots and people on the street using video recordings and interviews. We discuss the collected empirical evidence in our multi-stakeholder workshops in-person and online. The goal of the project is to inform city planning and policy development for autonomous delivery robots in Sweden and to contribute to development of standards for public mobile robots globally.
Hannah - thank you for bringing together so many of the project partners for this valuable and insightful workshop. Stuart Reeves, Cilli Sobiech, Niklas Arvidsson, Anders Eriksson, Johanna Löfblom, Eevi Heikkinen, Daniel Rudmark and Robert Ståhl.
Why this matters for talent
Starship Technologies joining a two year academic and government research project in Sweden studying its sidewalk robots in Stockholm is a genuine signal of expanding European operations and regulatory engagement, even though Starship does not currently show tracked open roles on the board. This is worth watching for research, policy and operations roles tied to new European markets as the project develops.
14 likes · 0 comments · 5 shares · Read the original LinkedIn post. Curated by Larry Sherwood Jr. from company announcements; analysis above is my own.