MECHANICAL INVADERS OF SHEFFIELD

obots, we were promised back in the 70s and 80s, were the inevitable future. But what was that actually meant to look like? Popular fiction has shown us every variation imaginable: mechanical servants designed to make our lives easier, or chrome-plated overlords destined to end us all, depending on which film you watched.

We are now more than a quarter of the way into the 21st century and, aside from inside factories, I’ve yet to see robots becoming part of the everyday fabric of life.

Until today.

When you think of robots, you probably—as I did—envisage these guys:

But have you seen one of these?

I’d seen them on television, usually in America, and I was aware of them appearing in London and Leeds, but I was genuinely shocked to come across this little chap in Sheffield. He was sat up on City Road. For those who don't know the area, this is Manor Top—a place with a bit of a "reputation."

In Sheffield, we have a way of testing things to their absolute limit. If you want to know if something is truly "Steel City proof," you don't put it in a lab; you put it on a street corner in the Manor. It’s an area that doesn't suffer fools—or fragile machinery—gladly.

I must admit, I feared for the little fellow. I actually got in touch with the operators because I thought he might be lost or abandoned! They assured me that this was simply its default parking spot, and it was merely waiting for an order to pick up. Apparently, they’ve been rolled out successfully in similar "tough" areas before, but I remain a skeptic.

Will the little guy and his siblings survive the challenge of Sheffield’s streets? One can't help but remember the ill-fated OFO hire bike scheme. Those yellow bikes were launched with similar optimism, only to end up being repurposed as canal-bed ornaments or stripped for parts within weeks.

Is Sheffield ready for this kind of mechanical integration, or will the spirit of the local hills be a bit too much for these tiny couriers? Time will tell if this robot is a pioneer or just the next resident of the River Don.

The spirit of the Urban Viking—and the occasional absurdity of navigating the modern world—lives on in my webcomic, Northman. Whether it’s ancient gods or mechanical invaders on City Road, the daily reality of staying grounded remains the same.

You can read the latest chapter here: northman.kirt.me.uk

I’ll be sharing more of my journey and the daily reality of staying grounded in the modern world over on social media. Join in:

Instagram ● Threads

BlueSky ● TikTok