Is the REV-1 actually available for purchase?

Not available to consumers. In internal use by Refraction AI. Source: https://www.ottomate.news/p/refraction-ais-luke-schneider-is.

Where is the REV-1 being used?

No verified field deployments on record.

No incidents on record, but with no verified field deployments either, the absence is uninformative.

REV-1 is made by Refraction AI, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Source: https://www.ottomate.news/p/refraction-ais-luke-schneider-is.

Consumer model

REV-1

By Refraction AI · sidewalk

Price: —
Availability: Internal use only (not for retail).
Maturity: pilot
Real-world use: No verified deployments

Refraction AI's REV-1 (Refraction AI, founded 2017 in Ann Arbor by University of Michigan professors) is a distinctive three-wheeled delivery vehicle sized between a sidewalk bot and a car: up to 15 mph with about a 280-pound payload, designed for winter 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. There is no consumer price: it runs a robots-as-a-service model where customers subscribe to dedicated, brand-customizable robots. Several verified-vs-claimed points matter. A reported wind-down or acquisition is refuted: Refraction is verified still operating through 2024 to 2026 (new CEO Luke Schneider, an Austin office, Chick-fil-A as a marquee client, an active 2026 profile); the 'Osage Venture Partners exited' label is a venture-portfolio markdown, not a confirmed acquisition or shutdown, so it is not tagged discontinued. It is recorded at pilot maturity: a roughly 21-person company with a named client and multi-city presence but no independently verified scale figures. Any lifetime delivery count, fleet size, revenue, or live-market count is unverified, and the claim that the REV-1 was discontinued in favor of a 'REF-1' is a likely misread of source language describing a second generation of the same design.

Readiness

REV-1 is internal use only (not for retail), no capability claims are on file, the model has no verified field deployments in the registry, and no incidents are on record.

Availability

internal-only

Internal use only (not for retail).

see evidence →

Price honesty

no-price

No price points on file for REV-1.

see evidence →

Capability honesty

no-claims

No reviewed capability claims on file for REV-1.

see evidence →

Real-world use

pilot

Maturity: pilot. No verified deployments in the registry.

see evidence →

Safety record

no-incidents

No incidents on record. No verified deployments either.

What it claims to do

No reviewed capability claims on file.

Price

No reviewed price points on file.

Real-world use

No verified deployments on file for REV-1.

Safety record

No incidents on record. No verified deployments either, so the absence is uninformative.

Privacy

No privacy practices disclosed or on file for REV-1.

Specs

notes: [{"label":"Verified","value":"Refraction AI (founded 2017, Ann Arbor; U-Michigan professor founders) makes the REV-1, a larger sidewalk/bike-lane delivery vehicle. CEO Luke Schneider (since ~2023); ~21 employees; Austin TX product-development office; Chick-fil-A marquee client. RaaS model (customers subscribe to dedicated, brand-customizable robots)."},{"label":"CORRECTION (shutdown REFUTED)","value":"The dispatch flagged a possible wind-down/acquisition. VERIFIED still operating (2024-2026): the Osage Venture Partners 'Exited' label is a VC-portfolio markdown, NOT a confirmed acquisition or shutdown (no acquirer/date/terms). Counter-evidence: new CEO, Austin office, Chick-fil-A, active 2026 profile. Do NOT tag discontinued. maturity=PILOT (lean)."},{"label":"Form-factor / regime note","value":"REV-1 operates PRIMARILY in the bike-lane / road-margin (can use sidewalks where permitted), a distinct regulatory regime between a sidewalk PDD and a road AV. Recorded under form_factor=sidewalk (the low-speed-PDD bucket) with this bike-lane regime noted, rather than creating a single-instance form_factor."},{"label":"Claimed but NOT verified (cap-flag)","value":"Any lifetime delivery count, current fleet size, revenue, or live-market count (none independently verified - a ~21-person company). The search-summary claim that REV-1 is 'discontinued in favor of REF-1' is a likely misread (the source says 'generation 2 of the initial design' = evolution, not discontinuation). The precise nature of the Osage 'exit' is unconfirmed."},{"label":"Source/methodology (Phase 1A, 2026-06-04)","value":"CAP-FLAG: Refraction AI's official site (refraction.ai) is DEFUNCT - all paths return HTTP 404, consistent with the company's exited status (Jan 2026). No live maker-official or operator-official source exists; the primary substrate is an archived Wayback snapshot of the official homepage. The REV-1 record's verified claims rest on secondary press + this archived official artifact."}]
specs: REV-1: three-wheeled delivery vehicle sized between a sidewalk bot and a car; up to 15 mph, ~80 lb vehicle weight, ~280 lb / 127 kg payload (~16 cu ft, ~4-5 grocery bags), 5-ft stopping distance; designed for winter/snow + bicycle-courier-style operation. Founded 2017, Ann Arbor MI (U-Michigan professors Matthew Johnson-Roberson + Ram Vasudevan); $4.2M seed (2021); CEO Luke Schneider; Ann Arbor + Austin TX.
formFactor: sidewalk (low-speed delivery PDD; REV-1 operates primarily in the BIKE-LANE / road-margin, a distinct regime between sidewalk bot and car)

What's under the hood

No brain on file for REV-1.

Frequently asked questions

Is the REV-1 actually available for purchase?: Not available to consumers. In internal use by Refraction AI.Source: Refraction AI's Luke Schneider (CEO; still operating; ~21 employees; Chick-fil-A; gen-2 design)
What does the REV-1 cost?: Not announced.
Where is the REV-1 being used?: No verified field deployments on record.
Is the REV-1 safe?: No incidents on record, but with no verified field deployments either, the absence is uninformative.
How does the REV-1 handle privacy?: No privacy practices disclosed or on file for REV-1.
Who makes the REV-1?: REV-1 is made by Refraction AI, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.Source: Refraction AI's Luke Schneider (CEO; still operating; ~21 employees; Chick-fil-A; gen-2 design)

Video

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. Historical: Refraction AI wound down its operations. Supervised autonomy with remote oversight.

Manufacturer

Refraction AI (registry record: /companies/refraction-ai)

Compared to

Cartken Courierby Cartken · sidewalk
Coco Botby Coco Robotics · sidewalk

Sources

Refraction AI's Luke Schneider (CEO; still operating; ~21 employees; Chick-fil-A; gen-2 design) · https://www.ottomate.news/p/refraction-ais-luke-schneider-is
Refraction AI raises $4.2M seed (2021) · https://www.therobotreport.com/refraction-ai-raises-4-2m-for-delivery-robots/
Refraction REV-1: ~15 mph, ~280 lb payload, bike-lane / road-margin operation · https://newatlas.com/robotics/rev-1-delivery-robot/
Refraction founded 2017 by U-Michigan professors Johnson-Roberson + Vasudevan · https://pulse2.com/refraction-launches-rev-1-michigan/
Refraction AI official homepage (archived snapshot; live site now defunct/404) · http://web.archive.org/web/20240128151846/https://refraction.ai/
Refraction AI official YouTube (@refractionai1769), embedded under standard YouTube embed terms. oEmbed author_url verified 2026-06. · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47WNq9u4QsY · 2026-06-04

Machine-readable: this page as markdown.

Canonical: https://deploy.report/models/refraction-rev-1