Noah won’t steal your French fries or judge a skimpy tip. In fact, Noah doesn’t accept tips at all. The low-roving, four-wheeled robot, deployed from an electric vehicle, delivers restaurant meals from the curb to a customer’s front door.

Steve Burns, an electric vehicle entrepreneur, believes the system represents the next evolution of food delivery. His company, NoTip, has spent four years developing Noah, a robotic delivery system designed to handle the final steps of a food order after a human driver transports it near the customer’s home.

The process is a hybrid approach, but in an interview with Techstrong, a company representative said there are plans to incorporate a self-driving vehicle, making the entire process autonomous. The company also plans to expand to additional cities.

For now, a driver is behind the wheel of a BMW i3. Once the vehicle arrives at the address, Noah is deployed down a specially retrofitted ramp from the passenger side with the meal bag secured in its robotic arm hook. Noah then travels to the front door to complete the delivery before returning to the vehicle for its next assignment.

To navigate sidewalks and neighborhoods, Noah relies on technologies commonly used in autonomous robots, including AI, GPS, cameras and onboard sensors that continuously map its surroundings, identify obstacles, determine its location and plan a safe route. The system is designed to detect pedestrians, pets, bicycles, vehicles and other hazards while navigating sidewalks, driveways and street crossings.

The service, which charges a flat $6 delivery fee, is being beta tested in Mason, Ohio, where NoTip partners with approximately a dozen restaurants.

NoTip says its model addresses several common frustrations associated with traditional food delivery, including tipping expectations, hidden fees and restaurant commissions. The company also believes many customers prefer the convenience and privacy of having a robot, rather than a stranger, to arrive at their front door. Customers pay restaurant menu prices plus the flat delivery fee.

During the public beta test, Mason residents can order through the NoTip app, track deliveries in real time, and provide feedback as the company continues refining the system.

NoTip joins a growing race to reinvent the “last mile” of delivery — the final stretch between a restaurant and a customer’s doorstep. Companies across the country are experimenting with autonomous technology to reduce costs while improving efficiency.

One of the industry’s biggest players is Starship Technologies, which says it has completed more than 10 million autonomous deliveries worldwide. Its robots transport everything from restaurant meals to groceries and industrial supplies using radar, ultrasonic sensors, AI-powered neural networks and 12 cameras to detect obstacles and navigate their surroundings.

Over the past 12 years, sidewalk robots have proved effective on college campuses, in business districts and in densely populated neighborhoods. Suburban communities, however, present different challenges. Robots traveling entirely on sidewalks may take considerably longer to complete deliveries over several miles, while inconsistent sidewalks, busy intersections and changing terrain can complicate navigation.

Serve Robotics is partnering with companies including Uber Eats, DoorDash, 7-Eleven and Nvidia. The company says its robots move alongside pedestrian traffic while autonomously delivering food and other goods.

Other companies have looked skyward. Drone delivery can bypass traffic and fly directly to customers, but it also faces challenges, including airspace restrictions, weather, battery limitations, payload capacity and the difficulty of finding safe landing locations.

Automation is steadily reshaping food delivery. The question is not whether robots will play a role, but which combination of robotics, AI and human involvement will ultimately prove practical, reliable and economical at scale.