Robots have arrived at UW-Madison. And they come bearing food.
Students on the UW-Madison campus can now order delivery from one of 30 autonomous robots that will bring food to their exact location. The robots, developed by VC-backed San Francisco-based startup Starship Technologies, will offer the school's 66,000 students, faculty and staff food from Carson’s Market, Four Lakes Market and Liz’s Market.
To order delivery, users simply download the Starship Deliveries iOS or Android app, make their selection, and drop a pin on the map where they want their food to be delivered. When the delivery arrives, users receive an alert and can unlock the robot through the app.
Each delivery costs $1.99 and can be made using a credit or debit card, though the university says students will be able to use their Wiscard to make purchases in the coming weeks.
The Starship robots currently only delivers to a section of campus north of University Avenue/Campus Drive, west of Park Street, and east of Walnut Street. But the university says the service will expand to the rest of campus in a matter of weeks.
UW-Madison is now the largest college campus in the U.S. to offer autonomous delivery, according to the university.
Founded in 2014, Starship's food delivery robots primarily serve college campuses, such as George Mason University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Pittsburgh. The coolers-sized bots have traveled more than 350,000 miles and completed over 150,000 autonomous deliveries, the company said.
Starship isn't the only company offering food delivery via autonomous robots. Kiwi, a similar startup, also focuses on on-campus deliveries, and Robby Technologies partnered with PepSiCo to bring food-delivery robots to the University of the Pacific in California.
Food delivery company Postmates is working on its own autonomous delivery robot, and Amazon's delivery bot, called Scout, is currently making Prime deliveries in Southern California.
Starship says its deliveries are fulfilled in "just a matter of minutes," and can carry up to 20 pounds. The robots can cross streets and climb curbs, and they also operate in rain and snow.
