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The University of Nevada is preparing to launch a fleet of twenty Starship delivery robots this fall to enable students easier and more convenient access to campus dining options. Nevada will join a growing number of universities to deploy robot delivery on campus, as the popularity and utility of mobile ordering continues to grow.
According to an official university release, the Starship delivery robots will be delivering food, drinks and snacks from a range of on-campus restaurants and cafés starting this fall with a proposed August 23 launch date. The delivery robots will be available to all Nevada students, staff, faculty and visitors.
Chartwells Higher Education, Nevada's food-service provider, has partnered with Starship Technologies to roll out the autonomous delivery robots on the Reno campus. Students, faculty and staff will be able to order on-demand food deliveries from any of the 20 Starship robots and track their order in real-time.
“We’re excited to be one of the first campuses in the world to be able to offer this service to our students, staff and faculty,” says Heidi Rich, marketing director for Nevada Dining. “We continue to expand our dining options and now, with Starship Technologies, are able to offer a contactless, low-cost, fast and friendly way to deliver.”
To utilize the delivery service, users must first download the Starship Food Delivery app from the App store or Google Play. Students can open the Starship Deliveries mobile app, choose the items they would like from one of the available Nevada Dining locations, then select their location by dropping a pin on the campus map where they want their order to be delivered.
From within the app, users can watch the robot’s journey in real-time on the interactive map. Once the robot arrives, the user will receive an alert to meet the robot and unlock it via the app. 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 at a time.
The final preparation for Nevada's Starship deployment is a finalization of campus mapping and configuration, which enables the robots to successfully navigate the sidewalks and pedestrian areas of campus.
“We kindly ask our campus community to be patient with Nevada Dining and our delivery robots as they continue to map and configure their service for our campus,” says Rich. “We look forward to our launch when they will be delivering from most of the Nevada Dining restaurant locations by Monday, August 23.”
