What is the REV-1 deployment at Ann Arbor?

REV-1, built by Refraction AI, is recorded as a deployment at Ann Arbor on the DEPLOY registry. Refraction AI operates the deployment directly.

Who operates REV-1 at Ann Arbor?

Refraction AI, the manufacturer of REV-1, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.

When did the REV-1 deployment at Ann Arbor go live?

The deployment is recorded as starting February 1, 2020 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.

Have there been incidents at the REV-1 deployment at Ann Arbor?

No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

Deployment

REV-1 at Ann Arbor

Name: REV-1 at Ann Arbor
Start: 2020-02-01T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Ann Arbor

Refraction AI (founded 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by University of Michigan professors Matthew Johnson-Roberson and Ram Vasudevan; about $4.2 million seed raised in 2021; now led by CEO Luke Schneider with teams in Ann Arbor and Austin, Texas) makes the REV-1, a distinctive three-wheeled delivery vehicle sized between a sidewalk bot and a car. The REV-1 travels up to 15 miles per hour with about a 280-pound payload and is designed for winter and snow and bicycle-courier-style operation, running primarily in the bike lane or road margin while able to use sidewalks where permitted, a regulatory regime between a sidewalk personal delivery device and a road autonomous vehicle. A critical current-state correction: the dispatch flagged a possible wind-down or acquisition, but Refraction is verified still operating through 2024 to 2026, with the Osage Venture Partners exited label being a venture-portfolio markdown rather than a confirmed acquisition or shutdown, and counter-evidence including a new CEO, an Austin office, Chick-fil-A as a marquee client, and an active 2026 company profile, so it is not tagged discontinued. The registry records it at pilot maturity, since it is a roughly 21-person company with a named client and multi-city presence but no independently verified scale figures. It runs a robots-as-a-service model where customers subscribe to dedicated brand-customizable robots. Any lifetime delivery count, fleet size, revenue, or live-market count is unverified, the claim that the REV-1 is discontinued in favor of a REF-1 is a likely misread of source language describing a second generation of the same design, and the precise nature of the Osage exit is unconfirmed.

REV-1 by Refraction AI · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified

Track REV-1 at Ann Arbor

Machine-readable surfaces

Markdown mirror: /deployments/refraction-rev1-ann-arbor.md
JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
REST API: /v1/robots/311bacbf-8029-46ec-83ac-4f45cf1bda02
Data documentation: /data
Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP

Footage

PRIMARY SOURCE

Courtesy of Refraction AI

Refraction AI's introduction of its REV-1, a three-wheeled delivery robot. The REV-1 is a bike-lane and road-class vehicle, larger than a sidewalk robot, operated in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Trust tier: Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified
Last updated: 2026-06-12
Model: REV-1
Company: Refraction AI
Location: Ann Arbor
Status: operational
First seen: 2020-02-01
ID: 311bacbf-8029-46ec-83ac-4f45cf1bda02

Sources (2)

Refraction AI — autonomous last-mile delivery (Ann Arbor) · https://www.refraction.ai/
TechCrunch: Refraction AI launches REV-1 in Ann Arbor, 2020 · https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/25/refraction-ai-launches-its-middle-of-the-road-delivery-robot-in-ann-arbor/

Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-12

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-12

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: pilot

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: sidewalk

Sources by quality tier

1: unclassified; Unclassified source
1: secondary-industry-publication; Industry publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Common questions

What is the REV-1 deployment at Ann Arbor?: REV-1, built by Refraction AI, is recorded as a deployment at Ann Arbor on the DEPLOY registry. Refraction AI operates the deployment directly.
Who operates REV-1 at Ann Arbor?: Refraction AI, the manufacturer of REV-1, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the REV-1 deployment at Ann Arbor go live?: The deployment is recorded as starting February 1, 2020 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the REV-1 deployment at Ann Arbor?: No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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