Food delivery robots roll onto Colorado State University
Media contact: Jennifer Dimas
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The Colorado State University community now has a futuristic way to order food, as a robot delivery service launched today in partnership with Grubhub and Starship Technologies.
Starting on Monday, Jan. 27, Starship’s fleet of on-demand robots will deliver food on CSU’s Main Campus from select on-campus eateries. Using the Grubhub app (iOS and Android), students, faculty and staff can order food for a nominal delivery charge. The service works with campus meal plans, RamCash and credit cards.
Starship’s zero-emission robots operate on more than 55 college campuses in the U.S. and have completed more than 7 million autonomous deliveries. CSU is the first college campus in Colorado to welcome Starship’s robots. The robots are battery-powered with an average robot delivery consuming as little energy as making one cup of coffee. In comparison to traditional delivery options that use cars and vans, robot delivery is an environmentally friendly alternative.
The robots can navigate through all kinds of conditions — snow, oncoming bikes and foot traffic, curbs, low light and other obstacles — using a combination of sophisticated machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors to safely travel on sidewalks. The computer vision-based navigation helps the robots to map their environment to the nearest inch.
“Our robots have proved to be immensely popular, especially among college students who often adopt them as another campus mascot,” said Chris Neider, vice president of business development at Starship Technologies. “We’re thrilled to bring our little robots to CSU we can’t wait to see how they become a part of campus life.”
In addition, each robot has separate compartments for hot and cold food, and they can carry the equivalent of three shopping bags. The robots are also equipped with cup holders and dividers to ensure that nothing is spilled during delivery. To prevent theft, the robots have a variety of security measures, including a locked lid, cameras and sirens.
Lucas Miller, director of residential dining services at CSU, explained that Starship Technologies owns and operates the delivery robots in collaboration with Grubhub. CSU has provided access to its campus, and Starship and Grubhub get the $3.49 charge per delivery.
So why delivery robots?
Miller explained that the initiative brings future technologies to students, faculty and staff, while enhancing the overall campus and student experience. Most importantly, it gives experiential learning opportunities for students to have hands-on work with the robots and the new technologies.
“Robot delivery is the next wave of technology in food delivery, and CSU will be at the forefront,” Miller said. “Delivery robots will not only bring a new service to the CSU community, but it will also provide hands-on experience with new technologies for the students who will manage and maintain the robots.”