"Delivery company Grubhub Inc. plans to roll out food-delivering robots across U.S. college campuses from this fall, as automation grows in a sector turbocharged by the pandemic.
Grubhub will deploy the suitcase-size rovers built by Russian tech company Yandex NV to some of the 250 colleges across the U.S. that Grubhub already operates in, the companies said Tuesday. The six-wheeled autonomous rovers have been tested in recent years on the snowy streets of Moscow, delivering food, groceries and documents. Since April, the robots have also been delivering orders from local restaurants in Ann Arbor, Mich., as part of a trial.
"Globally, we see growing demand for all kinds of on-demand delivery services," said Artem Fokin, head of business development at the Yandex Self-Driving Group, which develops autonomous vehicles. "The pandemic didn't start this trend, but it certainly accelerated it."
Delivering food is an expensive and complex logistical undertaking, analysts say. Apps typically earn money by charging restaurants a percentage of the value of orders, as well as by charging consumers a service fee. They then dip into those earnings to pay drivers, their biggest expense.
Delivery bots now promise to limit the human element and lower some costs.
"Robots don't need lunch breaks, there are no high turnover issues, they are easy to manage," Mr. Fokin said. "Customers are also excited to see them. They are a novelty."
Yandex said its autonomous delivery robots, which have the capacity to carry as much as 44 pounds of goods, can navigate pavements, pedestrian areas and crosswalks slightly faster than the speed of an average pedestrian. After an order is placed, the rover makes its way to the restaurant, picks up the food and then delivers it to a specific location where the user unlocks its hatch through the Grubhub app." [1]
1. Grubhub to Use Robots on College Orders --- Autonomous deliveries will help the company cut labor costs and lower service fees
Kantchev, Georgi. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]07 July 2021: B.4.
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