Nov. 9, 2021

Robots have started delivering food to students at South Dakota State University.

The on-demand fleet is part of Starship Technologies and includes 30 autonomous robots that will deliver from three campus eateries: Grille Works, Papa John’s and Starbucks. Additional locations will be added soon.

The school’s nearly 14,000 students and faculty can use the Starship Food Delivery app to order food and drinks from local retailers to be delivered anywhere on campus within minutes. The service works in conjunction with the student meal plan.

“The one thing we have learned in recent years is that students and faculty like flexibility in their dining options,” Doug Wermedal, associate vice president for student affairs at SDSU, said in a statement.

“The ability to have something delivered to various locations throughout campus and the community will be impactful to our students and employees as they continue to manage busy and demanding schedules. We are excited about this partnership, the robotics technology and the student employment opportunities Starship will bring to our campus.”

Starship already is providing services on campuses across the country, including Arizona State, Purdue, George Mason and Northern Arizona universities. Since the launches, all campuses have increased the number of robots, dining options and hours of operation to meet the high demand for the service, the company said.

Using the app, users choose from a range of food and drink items and then drop a virtual pin where they want their delivery to be sent. They can watch on an interactive map as the robot makes its journey to them. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert and can meet and unlock it through the app.

The delivery usually takes just a matter of minutes, depending on the menu items ordered and the distance the robot must travel. Each robot can carry up to 20 pounds — the equivalent of about three shopping bags of goods.

“We’re excited to make our South Dakota debut at SDSU,” said Ryan Tuohy, senior vice president of business development and sales at Starship Technologies. “The winters can be tough here, so we know the students, faculty and staff will appreciate the robots delivering their food and drink orders. We look forward to providing this convenient service and becoming a part of the campus community.”

Starship Technologies operates commercially on a daily basis around the world. Its zero-emission robots have made more than 2 million autonomous deliveries, traveled millions of miles and make more than 90,000 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 can monitor their progress remotely and can take control at a moment’s notice. Starship hires a team of student workers on every campus, giving them real-world experience in AI and the future of transportation.