Starship Delivery Robots

Hours of Operation:

Refer to the app in the App Store or Google Play.

Contact info:

765-285-1967 or View Email

Facts:

  • There is a small fee for delivery
  • The robots are emission free.
  • 100% electric
  • Starship operates their robots daily around the world.
  • They are equipped with anti-theft prevention measures.
  • Humans will be monitoring the robots.

Starship Delivery robots can deliver food, drinks and snacks from a range of dining locations.

They offer a safe and convenient way to get your food, providing contactless deliveries. They are sanitized and cleaned regularly.

How the Service Works

  • Download the ‘Starship Food Delivery’ App from the App Store (or Google Play) onto your mobile device.
  • In our App you’re presented with things to buy from a range of local outlets.
  • You drop a pin on a map selecting where you want to receive your delivery.
  • Once you’ve paid, a person at the store packs a robot with your order, and you can track your robot as it travels to you.
  • Once the robot turns up, you get a notification to say it has arrived. You then use your phone to unlock the robot via the app.
  • The robot then travels back towards the store.

Meet the Starship Delivery Robot

Frequently Asked Questions

Intro Questions

It’s a Starship delivery robot. It delivers groceries and hot food from stores and restaurants around campus to anyone with the Starship Food Delivery App on their mobile device.

Starship Technologies was founded by Skype co-founders, Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis. They came up with the idea of revolutionizing local deliveries using autonomous robots. Starship’s CEO is Alastair Westgarth. Starship robots do thousands of autonomous commercial deliveries a week in neighborhoods and on campuses around the world.

They’re affordable, convenient and environmentally friendly. They deliver food anywhere around campus in 30 minutes, helping students to skip lines and save time. The robots are also a safe delivery option.

Starship robots have traveled over a million miles, completed over 3.5 million deliveries, and they cross more than 140,000 streets per day.

Most of the time the robots drive autonomously, using a mixture of computer vision and GPS to pinpoint their exact location to the nearest inch.

The robot has obstacle detection capabilities, using 12 cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radars, neural networks, and more to identify obstacles, whether they are dogs, pedestrians, or cyclists.

The robot travels safely at 4 mph.

The robots are designed to act like a pedestrian, so mainly sidewalks, but they cross roads too.

We aim for 99% autonomous. The robots can be monitored remotely by a human who can take control at any time if needed.

40-45 pounds.

Around 20 pounds.

The robots have many theft prevention measures to prevent this from happening. Sirens if it is picked up, tracking to the nearest inch, the lid is securely locked, and cameras that can record.

Starship is an American company headquartered in San Francisco. The robots are manufactured in Europe.

So many. Some examples in the US: Fairfax, VA (George Mason University); Flagstaff, AZ (Northern Arizona University); Chicago, IL (University of Illinois Chicago ); Bowling Green, OH (Bowling Green State University), Corvallis, OR (Oregon State University); but also the UK,  Estonia, and Finland.

The delivery price can change but it’s normally a few bucks.

The robots are cleaned and sanitized before every delivery.

Starship’s robots are safe and green and 100% electric.

We hope you are enjoying the new food delivery robots on campus, Starship. As they continue becoming part of our community, we’d like to share a few ways you can best interact with our robots to keep them safe.

Here are a few examples of situations you may find the robot in:

  1. The robot looks a little lost: We assure you, they are not. The robot is equipped with cameras and sensors to help it find the safest path to travel. If it looks a little lost, it’s likely taking some time to shift through its options on what to do.
  2. The robot is stuck in a ditch or dirt: It happens! We have a team at Ball State University whose full-time job is to take care of the robots. If the bot is stuck, the team is notified and someone from Starship is sent to help it. We prefer that the robot is left alone and a robot tech will help as soon as possible. We appreciate anytime someone helps the robot out of a sticky situation, but please note that the bots are very heavy and we don’t want anyone hurting themselves! If you decide to interact with the robot, it will likely start its alarm system. It is jarring to draw attention that someone may be trying to hurt or steal the bot.
  3. The robot is taking a while crossing the street: Fun fact! Robots are very cautious. Drivers who see robots in crosswalks should slow down and proceed with caution, similar to what they would do if pedestrians or pets were in the crosswalk. The robots are designed to maneuver around objects in their path and prioritize safety wherever they operate.