I suppose if the robot literally cannot path around someone standing still, it might be a valid excuse? But as soon as you're actively moving to block it, it is obviously obstruction.
Judges get to run off common sense, not programmer logic - the point of the law is that public paths ought to be usable by anyone for lawful purposes, and currently "delivery robot" is a lawful purpose.
Why? A robot is not a person. It is a robot.
Unless the delivery robot has a legal permit to conduct its commercial business in the public space that is the sidewalk, then there is no reason that a human being should care about it.
Just like when businesses put up bandit signs in the median. People have the legal right to remove them because the signs are not there legally.
I have seen nothing that indicates these robots have any special-use permits for the sidewalk the way, say, a street vendor would.
Maybe I'm unfamiliar with the local law, but it sounds like you're just making stuff up, since you're not citing any specific code here.
A ground delivery device that:
(1) is manufactured for transporting cargo or goods;
(2) is operated by a driving system that allows remote or autonomous operation, or both; and
(3) weighs 550 pounds or less without cargo or goods.
IANAL, but this certainly sounds like it applies to this case.
[1] https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/ph...
[2] https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.001.00...
But if she was doing the same thing to humans as she was to the robot, they couldn't move around her (assuming that means re-positioning herself every time they try to go around) - and I think most people would agree that arresting her would be a good thing.
So the next question is, are all users of the sidewalk (as long as they're using it roughly the same way, which is temporary and quick pass through) deserve to have the same rights as a human?
My previous comment doesn't seem to align with this one, but mostly because I'm mixed on this.
If I stand on a train track, do you think the police aren't allowed to ask me to move?