#trending: TikToker shows robot buying bubble tea and chocolate in Singapore, claims machine controlled remotely from the Philippines

SINGAPORE — A video of a remote-controlled robot successfully buying bubble tea and a chocolate bar in Singapore, while said to be controlled from around 2,355km away in the Philippines the whole time, has impressed many users on TikTok.

Capturing the robot’s journey on camera, TikTok user FrodoBots posted two videos showing the robot running the errands at separate locations last week. 

In both videos, the TikToker claims in the captions that the robot was "being controlled from Philippines". It is not clear if this is indeed the case.

In one video posted on Friday (March 3), the robot can be seen rolling up to the automatic doors of the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) where it quickly hit its first snag — the doors failed to open as the motion sensors could not detect the robot. 

It then cleverly trailed behind a human shopper to successfully enter the mall.

After driving down a long corridor, the robot arrived at a HeyTea bubble tea store where an unidentified man remotely controlling the robot attempted to get the counter staff’s attention by saying "Hello" through the speakers attached to the robot.

However, the staff were unable to understand the man’s order.

“What are you saying?” a fellow customer asked as he stepped in to help.

The good Samaritan then relayed the man’s order for a “roasted brown bobo” to the staff and helped pay for the drink by passing money from a basket on the robot to the cashier.   

After the helpful customer collected his own order moments later, he graciously informed the robot of its queue number before leaving. A staff member is then seen placing the robot’s order in its basket, before it made its way out of the mall.

The minute-long clip has attracted over 143,000 views and 9,500 likes. 

HeyTea’s TikTok account left a comment inviting FrodoBots to have a cup of bubble tea on the shop the next time it visits Singapore, calling it a “very very cool robot”.

Many TikTok users also praised the “nice” customer for helping the robot place the order at the bubble tea shop.

Some users expressed surprise at how trusting FrodoBots was to drive a robot with a camera and wallet around unsupervised.

One person wrote: “Do this in my city, only tyre left (sic).”

To this, a number of people replied that the errand was carried out in Singapore where people supposedly “rarely do crimes”.

Others questioned how the robot could be controlled from such a great distance.

But perhaps the most important question anybody asked was who got to enjoy the bubble tea after? At the time of writing, FrodoBots has yet to respond to any of the comments on his video.

In a similar video posted earlier on Wednesday (March 1), FrodoBots showed the robot purchasing a bar of chocolate from a Giant supermarket in Yishun while also being controlled from the Philippines.

Approaching an elderly woman in the store, the man controlling the robot told the woman through the speakers that he wanted to buy a chocolate bar. She then guided him to the aisle with chocolates where she pointed out the different brands available before asking which he wanted.

“Cadbury, I guess,” the man responded.

The woman continued to help at the cashier by retrieving the amount of money needed from the robot’s wallet, carefully showing the notes to the camera. She then placed the chocolate bar and wallet back in the basket and told the robot to “take care”.

After leaving the supermarket, the robot was stopped by a curious man who flashed a reverse V-sign to the camera before trying to speak with it.

The FrodoBot and the passer-by exchanged hellos before the latter tried to lift the robot. FrodoBot quickly reversed and drove away in response.

The video has since chalked up more than 842,000 views and 50,000 likes.

In July last year, a TikTok video showing a man using a limitless-range remote-control car to get himself dinner from a coffee shop also earned much praise and amusement from online users.

NETWORK OF SIDEWALK ROBOTS

According to its website, FrodoBots is a company that seeks to build a "decentralised network of sidewalk robots". 

These remotely-driven robots, singularly referred to as a FrodoBot, can be used to carry out deliveries or to explore local neighbourhoods and even faraway places.

People can sign up to be a FrodoBot virtual driver and earn FrodoBot Tokens, a form of cryptocurrency, in the process.

“All you need is a browser, decent broadband and a game controller!” the website states.

TODAY has reached out to FrodoBots for more information.