Soon we will see more Starship delivery robots in universities and offices

Whether they are delivery drones or autonomous vehicles, there are many companies and investors who have a genuine interest in the future of transportation infrastructure and product delivery. A clear example of this is the latest announcement by the delivery robot company Starship Technologies, which announced that it will expand its services to a hundred more universities in the next 24 months, after the success obtained in some initial educational centers.

The robots, in fact, have already started deliveries at the University of Pittsburgh and will expand to Purdue University on September 9, before reaching dozens of other institutions in the coming months. The San Francisco-based startup said on Tuesday August 20 that it will expand this service to 100 universities over the next two years, thanks to an infusion of US $ 40 million in new funds. The expansion, which will focus primarily on the United States, will arrive at Purdue University in early September. George Mason University and Northern Arizona University adopted them in January and March, respectively.

How does it work?

“The university demography is excellent”, Starship Technologies CEO Lex Bayer told Digital Trends, noting that most universities currently do not have good delivery options available. This, according to him, is because the campuses are set up in a way that makes it difficult for traffic to move through them. “The food sales areas are sometimes far from the central roads, and the bedrooms can be difficult to access. That makes it difficult for traditional delivery companies to service this market. Young people tend to use technology a lot, and they are also used to ordering and receiving things quickly. They are digital natives predisposed to technology that works this way”.

With the Starship delivery model, anyway, students can place a wide variety of food orders through the application and point out exactly where they want to receive it. Orders will arrive within a delivery robot, which can be unlocked using the mobile application. Delivery rates vary by location, but are usually $ 2.