Yandex and Grubhub Launch Robot Delivery at the University of Arizona
Yandex Self-Driving Group and Grubhub, the leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform on college campuses, announced today that they are deploying robot delivery technology on the University of Arizona campus. This will be the second US college rolling out this delivery option from Grubhub and Yandex this fall, following The Ohio State University.
More than 35,000 Wildcats can now order their favorite foods from on-campus dining locations via the Grubhub app and have it delivered by one of the rovers. Yandex’s rovers autonomously navigate sidewalks, crosswalks and other pedestrian areas at speeds between 3 to 5 miles per hour, day and night, through various weather conditions, including rain, wind and heat. The rovers operate seven days a week, and students can request delivery to popular locations on campus including the dormitories, Main and Weaver library, McKale Center and more.
U and A’s favorite foods will be delivered by the new generation of Yandex robots. Features of the third-generation robots include a sleek new design with increased robot capacity, removable batteries so the robots can run almost nonstop, improved sensor set, LED headlights and softer suspension that makes it easier for the robots to traverse challenging terrain, such as high curbs.
“We are excited to see just how quickly autonomous delivery robots are becoming an essential part of campus life,” said Peter Szelei, business development executive at Yandex SDG. Our robots are already delivering thousands of orders every week on college campuses — simplifying the daily lives of students, professors and anyone spending time on college campus. The University of Arizona campus will feature our newly launched third-generation robots, and we hope the students will enjoy them.”
“We’ve been working with the University of Arizona’s dining team on efforts that drive the dining experience forward for the last eight years — from rolling out on-campus pickup and delivery to smart food lockers and our Ultimate ordering technology,” said Travis Price, senior manager, strategic partnerships at Grubhub. “The deployment of this robot delivery technology is an exciting way we’re continuing to provide innovative solutions to our partners, and we look forward to continue supporting the university’s dining operations.”
“Our ongoing partnership with Grubhub, and now Yandex, continues to strengthen and bring cool new innovation to our campus,” said Todd Millay, Executive Director of Arizona Student Unions. “We’re lucky to be the second school in the nation to launch with Grubhub’s new robot delivery service, and we can’t wait for our students to enjoy the convenience of this amazing technology.”
Find out more about our new generation of Yandex autonomous delivery robots in the following article.
We extend our sincere gratitude to those responsible for the successful implementation of the autonomous delivery at the University of Arizona. Our thanks go to the engineers for constantly improving the technology, the on-the-ground support team for ensuring the uninterrupted operation of the service, and the operations team led by Valeriia Verkhovykh for expert coordination and management.
