Robot model
REV-1
Refraction AI (founded 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by University of Michigan professors Matthew Johnson-Roberson and Ram Vasudevan; about $4.2 million seed…
- Manufacturer
- Refraction AI
- Form factor
- sidewalk
- Maturity
- pilot
- Lifecycle
- active
- Deployments
- 1
The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies REV-1, a sidewalk by Refraction AI (pilot): 1 verified deployment on record. 6 sources back the record.
Appears inLogistics robots
Overview
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.
Verified vs. claimed
- Maturity stage
- pilot(Small-scale deployment in controlled or trial conditions.)
- Sources on file
- View all sources →
Key facts
Operating speed
Payload
Weight
Stopping distance
Drive type
Specs
Notes
Specs
Runtime
Max speed
Weight kg
Form Factor
Payload kg
Data & sources
News coverage
1
Web sources
5
6 sources backing this record.View all →
Availability and pricing
- Availability
- Not sold (internal use)
- Price
- Not publicly disclosed
- Units in field
- Not disclosed
- Sales model
- Not disclosed
- Lead time
- Not disclosed
Pricing
No verified price is on record for REV-1. Physical-AI systems are often sold through enterprise contracts or operated as a service rather than at a public list price.
Deployments (1)
- REV-1 at Ann Arboroperational
Refraction AI deployed its REV-1 sidewalk robot for autonomous last-mile delivery in Ann Arbor, with the service launching in 2020.
REV-1 on the deployment map
View the global mapWhere REV-1 is verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 5, 2026
Refraction AI REV-1 delivery robot
- Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedFeb 1, 2020
at Ann Arbor
Deployment-verified media (1)
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.
From deployment: Ann Arbor
Safety record
No incidents on record for REV-1.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Sources (6)
- https://www.ottomate.news/p/refraction-ais-luke-schneider-is
- https://www.therobotreport.com/refraction-ai-raises-4-2m-for-delivery-robots/
- https://newatlas.com/robotics/rev-1-delivery-robot/
- https://pulse2.com/refraction-launches-rev-1-michigan/
- http://web.archive.org/web/20240128151846/https://refraction.ai/
- https://robohub.app/pl/compare/refraction-ai-rev-1/vs/ur10e
Compare REV-1
Common questions
What is REV-1?
How much does REV-1 cost?
Is REV-1 actually deployed in the real world?
What are the specs of REV-1?
Who makes REV-1?
Where is REV-1 deployed?
Can you buy REV-1?
What are alternatives to REV-1?
How does REV-1 compare to Starship Bot?
Is REV-1 a top sidewalk?
What is REV-1's maturity stage?
Is REV-1 safe?
Methodology: Verified · 6 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-15
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-15
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: pilot
Lifecycle: active
Architectural position
Cohort: sidewalk
Sources by quality tier
- 5
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for REV-1.Recent coverage
REV-1 in third-party press
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning REV-1 from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /models/refraction-rev-1.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/models/3d6ab7c3-98a8-4e88-b453-3816582a9101
- Revision history: /models/refraction-rev-1/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Buyer-facing pricing: deploy.report/price/refraction-rev-1
Video
Reality vs attention
REV-1 draws attention at the 34th percentile but verifies reality at the 5th percentile among sidewalk robots. Hype Gap +29.5, 2nd widest among sidewalk robots.
Analysis
Thin deployment record; scale validation still in progress.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 2, 2026