All of us at Relay Robotics are pleased to announce the unveiling of our new robot – SaviOne.

As of August 20, anyone who wants to see our robot in person can do so at the Aloft Hotel in Cupertino, California. The only catch is that you’ll have to be a guest there and forget to pack your toothbrush or cell phone charger – because SaviOne is a service robot designed for the hospitality industry. Guests that request items from the front desk can have that item delivered by a robot.

Next week marks the beginning of Relay Robotics pilot program, and we are very excited to be partnering with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the parent company of Aloft Hotels. You can read Starwood’s own announcement here.

Savioke will expand its pilot program to include additional hotels early next year. Anyone wishing to sign up for our early adopter program can do so here: http://www.getrelayrobotics.com/contact/.

Guests at the Aloft Hotel in Cupertino are able to meet A.L.O., Starwood’s name for the newest member of their team, the first “Botlr”.

The robot is approximately 3 feet tall, weighs less than 100 lbs., has a carrying capacity of 2 cubic feet, and is designed to travel at a human walking pace. It can even travel independently between floors via the hotel elevator. When Aloft’s A.L.O. arrives at the appropriate guest room, it phones the guest to announce its arrival, delivers the goods and makes its way back to the front desk. A.L.O. will know when a guest opens the door via an onboard camera. Once the door opens, A.L.O. will unlock, open its lid and provide instructions through onscreen prompts for guests to remove the item and close the lid.

We expect A.L.O. to delight guests, and also believe that some travelers will make a point of visiting the Cupertino Aloft for the sole purpose of getting a chance to meet A.L.O. in person. We believe the staff has more important things to do than deliver a toothbrush or a package of chips to a room, and that they would prefer to spend their time creating a more personalized experience for guests.

According to Brian McGuinness, Global Brand Leader of Aloft Hotels, “The appointment of Botlr makes Aloft the first major hotel chain to utilize robots both back and front of the house. People have been waiting decades for their robot butler to arrive and we’re happy that the time has finally come and that our guests can be the first in the world to take advantage of this amazing technology and service breakthrough.”

Is tipping appropriate? We’re not sure, but tweets and selfies with A.L.O. are more than welcome at #meetbotlr.

They say that every journey begins with a single step. Next week marks a major milestone in our mission to create autonomous robots for the services industry. Except, in this case our robot’s journey begins with a single robot wheel rotation.