A sleek white robot sits with a scrolling “GO HOOSIERS!” message on its pixelated front screen. It cycles through other faces too: darting eyes, blinks and hearts.
“These robots are very, very polite,” Rahul Shrivastav, executive director of IU Dining and Hospitality, said Thursday, June 4, during a test run.
It’s one of a fleet of 24 food-delivery robots launching June 8 on Indiana University Bloomington campus, in partnership with Grubhub and Avride. Shrivastav said they’re part of an effort to make campus food more accessible and convenient.
The robots have been tested for 18 months, mapping and learning paths. They’ll be confined to campus, with boundaries of East Third Street and Ind. 46. On the west, their coverage will extend up Indiana Avenue to 13th Street, North Walnut Grove to 17th Street and continue north on North Fee Lane.
Shrivastav said they’ll help students busy with classes and those with accessibility needs. Ordering via robot will be available on the Grubhub app. The robots will be doing deliveries from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Shrivastav said store hours vary by location on the weekend so he advices customers to look at the store hours on the GrubHub app.
Participating locations this summer include:
Drew Smith, director of retail dining at IU, said the robots can hold about eight entrees with four drinks. Its trunk is well-insulated, he said, keeping hot orders hot and cold ones cold.
The delivery fee is $3.50 per order. That fee isn’t covered by student meal plans, but the food ordered can be. And Smith said the robots don’t need tips.
“Now, some people still throw flowers in there, and stuff,” Smith said. “I’ve seen it at other universities doing that.”
Other state universities have already introduced similar services. Purdue University adopted them in 2019, and Ball State University launched its own fleet in 2022. Shrivastav said IU waited to make sure it had the “right robot” and had time to prepare.
The robots have often made the news because of vandalism and targeted assaults. But Shrivastav said he’s not concerned about that being a problem at IU. He said students have ended up “adopting these robots and naming them” at other campuses. Still, they’ll have an added layer of security, with footage reviewable by police.
“They also have cameras everywhere,” he said. “So any vandalism, anything like that, is always recorded.”
Customers use the GrubHub app to unlock the robot when it reaches its destination. Students, parents and visitors can order food using the robot, to be delivered on the IU campus.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Food delivery robots to launch on Indiana University campus
Reporting by Andrew Miller, Special to The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Andrew Miller, Special to The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
