Robot Butlers At Cupertino Hotel Could Revolutionize Room Service

CUPERTINO (KPIX 5) -- In a move that could revolutionize room service, a hotel in Silicon Valley is among the first trying out a robot butler.

The Aloft Hotel in Cupertino has a pool, bar, and now robots that will deliver stuff to your room.

"It's something that's very Silicon Valley. It's very novel and I think it's the future," said Steve Cousins, CEO and co-founder of Savioke, which makes the robots.

The robot is called ALO. When a call comes to the front desk and someone wants water and a toothbrush for example, the items are placed on top, the room number is programmed and presto.

"Instead of having a runner up there, you would have a robot coming up to the guest room," said Izumi Yaskawa, co-founder of Strategic Ambassador.

The entire hotel is mapped out. ALO knows where it is using sonar waves, lasers and special cameras. It calls elevators wirelessly. ALO even avoids obstacles.

When it arrives at a guest's door, they receive a call to get their stuff.

The company said the design was inspired by R2D2 from the Star Wars movies.

The system is in beta testing at the moment. ALO can carry up to a 10 pound payload.