Food-delivery robots are taking over UK's campus

Classes started at the University of Kentucky this week; joining the hoards of students crisscrossing campus are…robots? On Monday, Starship Technologies rolled out its fleet of 30 food-delivery robots. The machines ferry items from eateries like Starbucks, Subway, and Panda Express to students and staff across campus. UK President Eli Capilouto ordered coffee from one this morning to show how it works.

To use the food-delivery robots, all you do is open the Starship app on your phone, choose what you want, and drop a pin. You can follow your delivery on a map, and when the robot arrives, unlock it through the app to retrieve your items. Each robot can carry up to 20 pounds, the equivalent of three shopping bags of food. At the end of the day, the robots are sanitized before returning to their storage facility in K-Lair, where they dream of the next day’s deliveries and chicken tenders.

UK is one of 18 schools across the country to use the food-delivery robots. Others include Arizona State University, Purdue University, UCLA, George Mason University, Northern Arizona University, and Bowling Green State University. According to Starship, the robots make more than 80,000 road crossings every day and can climb curbs, travel at night, and operate in both rain and snow. Way more efficient than actual humans.