SIOUX FALLS, SD – It’s not exactly the Starship Enterprise. But it is the next big thing in food delivery technology.
A fleet of Starship food delivery robots will arrive on campus at SDSU on November 8th. Jennifer Novotney, The robots will be bringing food orders to students, staff and faculty across the university’s 387 acre campus. Senior Director for the University Student Union, says the food service will start using the robots to deliver food to students on campus.
Starship says its robots will revolutionize food and package deliveries, offering people convenient new services that improve everyday life. The boxy robots are small, with six wheels and a rounded white body, topped with a bright orange flag so that they’ll be more visible as they roam around campus. The robots have mapped the SDSUcampus using GPS and are able to find locations around the grounds. They can carry up to 20 pounds of food. They 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 monitor their progress remotely and can take control if needed. Starship Technologies’ robots have completed more than 500,000 autonomous deliveries to date.
According to reports from the SDSU Collegian Live, the Student Association learned about the new technology this week. Novotney told members of the Student Association the robots know traffic laws and obey crosswalks and lights. The robots will only deliver on campus.
With a combination of mobile technology, autonomous robots and partnering with stores and restaurants, Starship says local delivery is faster, smarter and more cost-efficient.
According to Novotney, the robots can also deliver special messages and sing Happy Birthday.
