Notre Dame launches robot food delivery with Grubhub, Starship

Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame launched a new robot delivery service Wednesday, bringing up to 30 on-demand robots to campus for food deliveries.

The robots deliver food to students, staff and faculty from six eateries on campus: Au Bon Pain, Garbanzo, The Gilded Bean, Hagerty Family Café, Modern Market and Taco Bell.

The service is part of a partnership between the university, Grubhub and Starship Technologies, which created the bots.

Using the Grubhub app, students can order food and drinks and get it delivered almost anywhere on campus in minutes. Students can also use their meal plans in conjunction with the robots.

By the spring, 50 robots will be available on campus, delivering food from even more Campus Dining locations, according to the university.

Here's how it works:

On the Grubhub app, diners will choose from a number of restaurants labeled "Offers Robot Delivery."

After choosing the desired restaurant, diners then select a delivery location for the robot.

Diners can track their robot delivery using an interactive map.

Once the robot gets to its destination, diners receive an alert to meet and unlock the robot through the app.

Each robot can carry the equivalent of about three shopping bags of products, officials said.

The robot deliveries do not take away jobs from the Campus Dining department.

“We’re excited to bring robot delivery to Notre Dame’s campus and continue supporting innovation within its campus dining program,” said Adam Herbert, senior director of campus partnerships at Grubhub. “Robot delivery is a natural progression of the work we’ve been doing with Notre Dame for years."

“The fleet of robots will have such a positive impact on campus," said Luigi Alberganti, executive director of campus dining. "They are part of our ongoing effort to bring innovative solutions to Campus Dining, they’ll expand our omnichannel retail strategy and they’ll provide flexibility and accessibility for our students. They are also going to be a fun addition to our community.”