New food delivery robots working out kinks at Purdue, including how to cross streets
Thirty Starship robots began delivering to Purdue a week ago. The company says it is working out kinks as city waits for proof robots can cross busiest streets
Emily DeLetter
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A week after their official launch, the Starship Technologies delivery robots are still learning the best way to navigate around campus — including crossing several busy streets — to deliver food and drinks to customers.
The 30 delivery robots on Purdue’s campus, which are owned by San Francisco, California-based Starship Technologies, officially began delivering food and beverages Sept. 9. The robots began their stay at Purdue in August, working over several weeks to map campus and create delivery routes. The company has launched deliveries at two other universities in the U.S., but with 44,551 students, Purdue is Starship’s largest campus-based clientele.
On Tuesday, Erik Carlson, West Lafayette’s development director, was questioned by members of the city’s board of works about what they called “some mixed comments” about the robot deliveries, which have been limited to a central part of Purdue's campus for now.
“This is why they make pilot programs,” Carlson said.
Carlson said the city had been in touch with Starship and had been tracking comments on social media about “some issues involving the little guys getting confused while crossing the street.”
“We have an understanding that they’re working to get these kinks worked out,” Carlson said. “And we’ll make sure these kinks are worked out before they start crossing State Street.”
Mentioning reports in which a robot was stopped by the side of the road, Henry Harris-Burland, vice president of marketing for Starship Technologies, said the robots stop and wait while crossing streets, as they cross during red lights, similar to pedestrians who have the right of way.
“The robots will only cross when its safe, which is maybe why some of the robots are seen waiting for periods of time,” Harris-Burland said. “It’s like a bubble of awareness around the robot.”
Currently, there are six locations on campus where customers can place an order: the Starbucks on Third Street, 1Bowl, Cosi, 3rd Street Market, Pete’s ZA and Sushi Boss, a list of options Purdue officials say they hope to expand over the next few months. The service works in conjunction with student meal plans, costing $1.99 per delivery.
On the restaurant side, Christie O’Brien, Cosi operations manager, said the restaurant receives a notification about an order, completes it and places the food or beverage in the robots’ coolers. The robots line up in a storage area behind the restaurant to accept the deliveries.
Sunday was the busiest day yet for the new partnership between Cosi and the robots, O’Brien said, with 54 total transactions. As for any delays, O’Brien said she has not heard any negative feedback, guessing that if there are complaints, they likely go to Starship instead.
“I think they’re really fun and a nice addition to campus,” O’Brien said. “It’s easy and convenient for students to grab a quick bite.”
Starship’s Purdue delivery radius includes the areas inside a network of streets: State Street, McCormick Road, Third Street, West Stadium Avenue, Northwestern Avenue and Grant Street.
Starship has posted a job opening on its website, advertising for a robot operator on Purdue’s campus. According to the job description, the robot operator would oversee the robots during their autonomous operations, operate the robot in a safe and sensible matter in certain traffic situations, log and report any issues to relevant teams, transport the robot to delivery areas and deposit them at the end of the shift, and observe the robots remotely and be ready to assist in unexpected situations, among other responsibilities.
Harris-Burland said the number of people hired for the robot operator position differs from place to place, but Starship hires local students on campus to help run the service and look after the robots.
To use the service, customers open the Starship Deliveries app, which is available to download through the App Store or the Google Play Store, and chose from the available restaurants their food or drink items of choice. They then drop a pin where they want the delivery to be sent and can watch in real time as the robot picks up the items and makes its way to the pin. Once the robot has arrived, the user is alerted and can unlock the cooler inside to retrieve the items ordered.
How do the robots work? The robots are each equipped with 10 cameras, use machine learning and sensor fusion, a type of software that combines data from multiple sensors to improve a machine’s overall performance. While the robots are autonomous, they can be overseen by remote operators employed by Starship.
Chris Neider, senior manager of business development for Starship, said the company is “constantly working to improve all our driving around campus — lots of improvements daily as the robots get smarter and learn the environment.”
Contributing: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier. Emily DeLetter is a news reporter for Journal & Courier. Contact her at (765)420-5205 or via email at edeletter@jconline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @EmilyDeLetter.