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Mobile food-ordering and delivery platform, Grubhub recently deployed a fleet of Yandex Self-Driving Group delivery robots on the campus of the University of Arizona. The deployment marks the second campus client to sign on with the Grubhub-Yandex robot delivery partnership this fall, following flagship campus Ohio State University.
Robot delivery will be available to the entire Arizona campus community and will serve food from on-campus dining locations, including IQ Fresh, Einstein Bros Bagels, On Deck Deli and Sabor. Food orders will be placed via the Grubhub app, with the Yandex robots handling the delivery.
"Our ongoing partnership with Grubhub, and now Yandex, continues to strengthen and bring cool new innovation to our campus," says Todd Millay, executive director of Arizona Student Unions. "We're lucky to be the second school in the nation to launch with Grubhub's new robot delivery service, and we can't wait for our students to enjoy the convenience of this amazing technology."
Yandex's third-generation robots autonomously navigate pavement, campus crosswalks and pedestrian areas at speeds between 3 to 5 miles, day and night, and in various weather conditions, including rain. The rovers operate seven days per week, and students can request delivery to popular locations on campus including the dormitories, libraries and more.
"We've been working with the University of Arizona's dining team on efforts that drive the dining experience forward for the last eight years – from rolling out on-campus pickup and delivery to smart food lockers and our Ultimate ordering technology," says Travis Price, senior manager, strategic partnerships at Grubhub. "The deployment of this robot delivery technology is an exciting way we're providing innovative solutions to our partners, and we look forward to continuing to support the university's dining operations."
Features of the third-generation Yandex robots include removable batteries that can be replaced in under a minute, additional cameras, a new chassis design with increased storage capacity, LED headlights and softer suspension making it easier for the robots to traverse challenging terrain like high curbs.
"We are excited to see just how quickly autonomous delivery robots are becoming an essential part of campus life," says Peter Szelei, business development executive at Yandex SDG. "Our robots are already delivering thousands of orders every week on college campuses -- simplifying the daily lives of students, professors and anyone spending time on college campuses."
