The beloved robots on six wheels, often seen maneuvering around students, will no longer flock the sidewalks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus.
Starship Technologies, the robot delivery company, is permanently ending operations of its sidewalk food-delivery vehicles at UW-Madison and other campuses across the United States, the company announced this month in a news release.
Brendon Dybdahl, Director of Marketing and Communications at UW-Madison Housing, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Starship has already collected its 13 robots. The university was notified in June while the delivery service took a break for the summer, Dybdahl said.
Instead, Starship plans to redeploy over 1,200 from college campuses to grocery retailers across Europe and the United States, according to Starship’s news release.
At UW-Madison, food robots have delivered meals from housing and dining services to students, faculty and staff across campus since 2019. Food orders could be placed online through an app and delivered to any location within the campus area.
The robots used obstacle detection sensors and cameras to navigate, detecting people, cyclists and crosswalks along the way. Dybdahl said students loved having the convenient delivery service and watching the robots maneuver sidewalks and streets in Madison.
“We had a great partnership with Starship,” Dybdahl said. “Students would help them out if they got stuck in a corner, at the intersection or in the snow. They got adopted into the UW-Madison community.”
While its partnership with Starship has ended, Dybdahl said the university is exploring other variations of food delivery services, similar to the robots.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Starship Technologies robots end food delivery at UW-Madison
Reporting by Shane Colpoys, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Shane Colpoys, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
