Robots will now deliver food to students on the University of Minnesota campus

By Derek James

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Move over Door Dash and Uber Eats, there’s a new food delivery service at the University of Minnesota, and this one doesn’t need a driver.

A roving robot will now satisfy student’s cravings.

Curiosity on the U of M campus grows as students and staff get their first robot deliveries with a dose of Sabrina Carpenter.

The robots are more than a novelty, they serve a purpose.

“We have a number of locations on campus that just don’t have great accessibility to food and when students and faculty and staff are on campus, they want to be able to have food on tight class schedules,” said Vice President for University Services for the University of Minnesota Alice Roberts-Davis.

The robots — designed and operated by Starship Technologies — currently deliver from Panda Express, Starbucks and Erbert & Gerbert for $2.49 plus at 10% delivery fee.

Anyone on campus can use the Starship Food Delivery app to order food and have it delivered.

“You can drop a pin anywhere you’d like to get your delivery,” said U.S. Launch Lead for Starship Technologies Joe Maloney.

Users can follow the robot’s location through the app after they place an order and use it to unlock the compartment with their food.

“Plenty of sensors and cameras all the way around, extremely accurate. Of course we have GPS,” explained Maloney.

The robots use machine learning and A.I. to cross streets, make it up curbs and avoid obstacles.

They’re able to run at night and in rain or snow.

“I think we quote somewhere around four or five inches of snow,” said Maloney.

With it being the first day, the Starships are still learning.

“I would’ve liked it if I didn’t have to walk and meet it but maybe they’ll improve the technology for next time,” explained one customer.

With 11 robots to start, they had to temporarily pause some early orders to keep up. More robots will roll out by the end of the week to handle student demand.

“They’re excited. They’re happy about what the robots will mean for them as far as convenience and we’re really excited to see how well this will do,” said Roberts-Davis.

The robots are part of a one-year pilot program approved by the Minneapolis City Council.

As part of the agreement, they have a five-mile per hour speed limit.

They must follow traffic laws and a human can override the robot to control it.

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