Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS
Starship Bridgewater

Bridgewater State plots expansion of Starship robot delivery

Andrew Hudson   ||   Mar 19, 2021  ||   ,

Bridgewater State University was one of the first institutions in the northeast region to deploy autonomous robot delivery from Starship Technologies, offering students and faculty a valuable dining alternative. Now, the university is plotting to expand its fleet of delivery robots following early successes on campus.

According to an Enterprise News report, Bridgewater State was a pioneer in the region after first deploying its fleet of Starship delivery robots in early 2019. BSU was also just the 13th university in the country to partner with Starship.

The university currently boasts a fleet of 15 robots but will increase that to 25 in the fall as the number of students living on campus is expected to return to full capacity. BSU is currently operating at just 41% capacity due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the smaller on-campus population, Bridgewater's Starship robots have still fulfilled an average of 150-170 deliveries per day, with significant peak times around lunch and dinner.

Delivery robots have been one of the measures campuses have turned to amid ongoing food safety precautions associated with COVID-19.

With this in mind, Starship operators and Bridgewater Dining team members clean the robots before and after each delivery, with an emphasis on high-touch areas. Moreover, all persons touching the robots are required to wear gloves.

At the end of every evening the robots undergo additional cleaning protocols, including a thorough cleaning of the lid handle and a careful cleaning of the thermal bags in the robot's chassis.

In the event a student forgets to pick up their order, an operator will meet the robot, remove the food, and wipe it down to prepare it for the next order. Each robot can only deliver one user's order at a time, which also decreases handling of the robots.

Bridgewater State's Starship fleet currently delivers most food and drink items available from the Bear’s Den or Crimson Café -- both university-run BSU dining locations -- as well as Starbucks orders.

To leverage the robot delivery service, users simply download the Starship app, select their campus and search available restaurants. After placing a food order, the app presents a map of campus, including area limitations where the robots cannot go. Users then a drop a pin on the desired delivery location.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT ARTICLES

Brista Hurst UT Tyler

Learn to analyze card system data at NACCU’s popular Data Summit

In a recent CampusIDNews Chats interview, Brista Hurst-Kent, Business Technology Services Manager at the University of Texas at Tyler, shared her experience attending the NACCU Data Summit. This two-day workshop focused on empowering participants to use common reporting tools – specifically Microsoft Excel with Power Pivot and Power Query – to create interactive dashboards that […]
Credentials 101 Series banner

Understanding chip options for contactless campus cards

Three main components underly modern credential technology – chips, formats, and encryption. Each are applicable to both cards and mobile credentials and understanding them is key to making informed decisions for your campus card program. In this series of articles, we will dive into each component, but first a brief preview. Chips are the core of […]
Apex OrderHQ Array modular lockers
Jul 02, 25 /

Modular locker solution streamlines campus order pickup

Apex Order Pickup Solutions launched a new modular system of automated order pickup lockers that can be stacked or setup in custom configurations. The OrderHQ Array Series lockers work in any floor plan without expensive remodeling. In an interview with Food On Demand, Kent Savage, founder and executive chairman of Apex Order Pickup Solutions, compares […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Attn: friends in the biometrics space. Nominations close Friday for the annual Women in Biometrics Awards. Take five minutes to recognize a colleague or even yourself. http://WomenInBiometrics.com

Feb. 1 webinar explores how mobile ordering enhanced campus life, increased sales at UVA and Central Washington @Grubhub @CBORD

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2025 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.