GrubHub, Starship Launch Robot Delivery at Sam Houston State University

GrubHub and Starship have launched their sidewalk delivery robot service at the Sam Houston State University’s Huntsville, Texas campus.

Starship’s fleet of autonomous robots will deliver from eight on-campus fast food restaurants: Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Pastabilities, Starbucks, Steak n Shake, Subway, Taco Sabroso and the Brisket Burger Co.

Students and staff can order delivery from the on-demand robots via the GrubHub app, using their phones to identify their meals and open the hatch.

“Robot delivery solves the unique challenges of accessing hard-to-reach areas that come from operating on a college campus,” said Adam Herbert, GrubHub’s senior director of campus partnerships. “With Starship’s robots, students can enjoy a fun, new way to order their favorite meals right to their door — whether that be the library, their dorm, academic hall or another campus building.”

“It’s always fun seeing how students react when we start service on a new campus,” said Chris Neider, Starship Technologies’ vice president of business development. “Our robots are designed to make life easier and more convenient, and we think the Bearkats community will be surprised how quickly they become a normal part of campus life.”

Over the past year, GrubHub and Starship have ramped up deployment of their robot delivery service across the country. The system is now in place at the University of Kentucky, the University of North Carolina, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Notre Dame and Southern Methodist University.

Related:Robot Delivery Service Rolls Out at 50 College Campuses

According to Starship, its robots have made more than 5 million autonomous deliveries, and make more than 150,000 road crossings every day. The robots use a combination of machine learning, vision-based navigation, AI and sensors to travel on sidewalks and navigate around obstacles, with a human team remotely monitoring their progress.

In August, Starship Technologies announced a number of new features for its delivery robots, including wireless charging and several robot personas users can choose from. At the same time, Starship announced it was rolling out its autonomous robot delivery service to 50 college campuses in the U.S., as the new semester begins.