Starship Technologies launches robot delivery service at North Carolina university

Starship Technologies, the world’s leading provider of autonomous delivery services, announced today that its robots have started on-demand food deliveries at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte).

Starship’s fleet of 30 autonomous, on-demand robots are now delivering from Wendy’s, Bojangles and Shake Smart and will add more campus eateries throughout March, with 10 onboard by the end of the month.

The school’s nearly 30,000 students and faculty can now use the Starship Food Delivery app (iOS and Android) to order food and drinks from campus retailers to be delivered anywhere on campus, within minutes.

Senior Jordan Badenhop says students are excited for the rollout: “The Starship robots are definitely making a conversation among students across campus. I think they are going to enjoy the ease of ordering delivery to wherever they are, from study spots to their dorm. It beats waiting in line for your favorite snack.”

Starship is already providing services to campuses across the country, including Bowling Green State University, Missouri State University, University of Houston, and the University of Illinois Chicago. Since launch, all campuses have increased the number of robots, dining options and hours of operation to meet the high demand for the service

To get started, users open the Starship Food Delivery app and choose from a range of their favorite food or drink items, then drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent.

They can then watch as the robot makes its journey to them, via an interactive map. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert, and can then meet and unlock it through the app.

Chris Neider, VP of business development at Starship Technologies, says: “We’re happy to bring our robot deliveries to another campus in North Carolina.

“Even though we are in the state’s largest city, it isn’t always convenient for students to take time to get food, so our on-demand delivery robots can provide a solution. That gives them more time for studying or taking a break, while also getting to interact with this highly sought-after technology. We think the Niner Nation will love the service.”

Delivery hours vary at the participating campus restaurants and payment options include credit and debit cards and the student meal plan.

Jody Thompson, director of auxiliary services, says: “We are so excited to partner with Starship to bring food delivery to UNC Charlotte. It is always our goal to meet students where they are, and I can’t think of a better way to share our dining program with the entire campus.”

Starship Technologies’ zero-emission robots have made more than 4 million autonomous deliveries, traveled millions of miles and make more than 140,000 road crossings every day.

The robots use a combination of sophisticated machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors to travel on sidewalks and navigate around obstacles.

The computer vision-based navigation helps the robots to map their environment to the nearest inch. The robots can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow. A team of humans also monitors their progress remotely and can take control at a moment’s notice.