East Carolina University has joined the growing list of institutions to deploy robot delivery, partnering with Grubhub and Starship Technologies to provide the service. All students, faculty and staff at East Carolina University are able to leverage robot delivery from main campus dining locations.
According to an official university release, Starship’s fleet of autonomous robots will deliver food and drinks from select campus dining locations through the Grubhub app. The robot delivery service will travel anywhere on the main campus.
The service can also be used in conjunction with the student meal plan or through a Grubhub account. Students can elect to use Pirate Meals from their board plan for robot delivery, but will be still be assessed the delivery fee, which can be paid for with either Bounty Bucks or the ECU cash card.
“ECU Dining Services is excited to offer this innovative service to our campus community,” says Celia Daniels, director of dining services at ECU. “Campuses across the country have had to increase the size of their Starship fleets to meet demand, and these fun and convenient robots are sure to be popular in Pirate Nation as well.”
To place an order for robot delivery, students first open the Grubhub app, choose their desired food or drink items from restaurants labeled “Offers Robot Delivery,” then designate the campus location for their delivery to be sent. Students can then follow along with their robot as it navigates its path to the destination by viewing an interactive map. When the robot arrives, the student is sent a push notification instructing them to meet the robot and unlock its chassis using the app.
Currently, ECU students can place orders for robot delivery from Raising Cane’s, Au Bon Pain, Subway, Port City Java, and a host of other participating locations around the ECU campus.