Starship food delivery robots land on campus

Six-wheeled robots made a surprise appearance on the University of Idaho’s campus this week as they wandered down sidewalks taking measurements in preparation for an on-demand food delivery program expected to begin later this semester.

While the robots won’t be taking orders just yet, according to John Kosh, marketing and communications director for UI auxiliary services, they’ll eventually be able to carry snacks, hot meals and beverages within a 4-mile radius.

“Let’s say you’re in the (Janssen) Engineering Building and you decide you want a burrito,” he said. “So, you go on the app and you choose the burrito off a preset menu. The robot will bring it to you and you can follow it along on your phone because it has a GPS signal.”

The university’s new dining provider, Chartwells Higher Education, partnered with San Francisco-based Starship Technologies in December to bring 15-20 of the delivery robots on campus.

Chartwells’ Idaho Eats program at UI replaced Sodexo’s Vandals Dining last year.

The robots, which travel at 4 mph and weigh no more than 100 pounds, have been mapping routes and gathering data across campus. The university is the first launch site for the robots in the state of Idaho.

“If a Starship runs into a situation it cannot handle, it will ask people nearby for help through canned responses,” Kosh said. “We pick what the response is and record it.”

Starship’s self-driving robots use radar technology to judge distances, cross streets and lift themselves up curbs. Each robot has 12 cameras which can identify objects 200 feet away.

To prevent theft, the robots will “scream” if picked up by anyone unauthorized to do so. In addition, their lids can only be opened using the customer’s mobile app or by the company providing the goods.

Kosh says Idaho Eats hopes to allow students to use dining dollars to purchase food through the delivery program.

“It would be ideal to have the Idaho Student Union Building be the central location,” he said. “There’s all the retail places in the ISUB and it’s in the middle of campus which has all that concrete around it for robot parking. It’s a no-brainer.”

The university plans to continue using the robots this summer to work out any kinks while foot traffic on campus is lighter.

“People who want curbside service will be able to essentially get it from a robot, which is mind-blowing,” he said. “I’m pretty confident we’ll have them delivering before finals begin.”

Palermo can be reached at apalermo@dnews.com or on Twitter @apalermotweets.