Razor and Marc Crocquet, vice president of business services, demonstrate how the Starship Technologies robots’ lock feature works.
Marc Crocquet, vice president of business services, and Razor present the Starship Technologies Inc. robots.
Starship Technologies Inc. launched its autonomous robot delivery service at NSU’s Davie/Fort Lauderdale campus on March 10. The robots deliver food from the on-campus Starbucks, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Sambazon and College Ave Subs to those on campus who order through the Grubhub app.
There are currently five robots on campus. Marc Crocquet, vice president of business services, hopes to have more than 15 by the fall.
“Obviously, if we see a lot of traffic, see a lot of demand, that will increase the robots to make sure that we can serve the students in a timely way,” Crocquet said.
Starship Technologies Inc. designs and distributes robots to universities internationally.
“[Starship Technologies Inc. is] an autonomous logistics company, and it focuses on the billion-dollar question: How do you get the last-mile delivery from point A to point B? Whether that be food packages, things in warehouses and all that stuff,” said Chris Krnich, customer success manager for Starship Technologies Inc.
Krnich said that the last-mile delivery, the final phase of the delivery process, is a unique, daunting task to complete. He said Starship Technologies Inc. invented robots for students to have easy access to get food delivered to them, without having to leave campus grounds.
“NSU [has] an interesting setup,” Krnich said. “So on campus, your point-of-sale and ordering system is done by Grubhub. So in this situation, Starship is a subcontractor of Grubhub. Grubhub provides the ordering platform for pickup and delivery, and then Starship provides the means of the food to get from the merchants to the students or faculty on campus.”
Naitik Patel, external affairs director for USGA and junior computer science major, said USGA and Shark Dining had biweekly meetings where they talked about how Starship is planning to deploy robots for the delivery system.
Jenifer Brinkman, associate director of dining, is excited to have the robots on campus.
“We’re the first university in South Florida to launch this innovation, and our mission is to be constantly innovating and getting the latest and greatest technology here,” Brinkman said.
The delivery robots are designed with security features that allow users to track them on their phones. Also, each robot locks automatically once food is placed inside and remains locked until the recipient unlocks it via the Grubhub app.
“So you’ll get a tracker on your phone. You get to follow the robot. Once it gets to you, you go out there and hit unlock, and then that’s when the lid unlocks,” Krnich said. “So on campus, as it’s driving, you can’t just stop it and try to open up the lid. It’s going to be locked, so nobody’s going to steal your frappuccino.”
The robots have wireless charging, which allows them to run 24/7, Krnich said. However, the robots are confined to the operational hours of Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels to conduct deliveries. The robots are maintained on campus through Starship staff, including technicians and fleet attendants. The fleet attendant role helps ensure the robots are presentable and functional to consumers.
“I would like to say that our robots never break down, but that is not the case. Every now and then, they need a little bit of help,” Krnich said. “So our fleet attendants will go out and grab them, and then do spot checks here and there. They’re a super important part of the Starship family.”
The use of the delivery system is convenient for students who are not close to on-campus dining locations or when nightfall comes, Patel said.
Patel said for students who live on campus, if they are uncomfortable with walking alone at nighttime, there is a benefit having the robot deliver to their dorm.
“If there’s an issue with somebody to get from their dorms to the dining hall in order to eat food, the robots could offset that. Instead of having to go all the way across campus, you could just go down to the lobby and pick up your food,” Krnich said. “And so being able to order food to your dorm without having to go across the college campus is really nice.”
Haya Shoukry, freshman entrepreneurship major, saw the robots around campus and decided to order using the delivery service because she felt it was convenient.
“It’s easier because normally in the morning, I need time to get ready, so it’s just more convenient if [the robot] comes towards where my dorm is versus me going,” Shoukry said.
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