Ordering delivery at the U of M? A robot might drop the food at your dorm

Food delivery robots are now rolling on the University of Minnesota campus.

The big picture: The self-driving droids, are popping up everywhere from the streets of San Francisco to the terminals at MSP , as major restaurants and delivery services pilot the tech nationwide.

• But the U says this is the first time it's been approved for use in Minneapolis.

Driving the news: The U announced the debut of both the Starship Technologies robots and its university-run food delivery service on Wednesday.

How it works: Student, faculty staff and visitors can use Starship's app to place and track orders placed from the Panda Express, Starbucks and Erbert & Gerbert's locations in Coffman Memorial Union.

• When the robot arrives, the customer uses the app to unlock the compartment and retrieve their meal.
• Delivery range covers most of the East Bank.

Zoom in : The U says the robots, which look like white coolers on wheels with flags, use "sophisticated machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors" to cross streets, climb curbs, roll at night and trek through rain and snow.

• The initial cost was covered by the company the U hires to run its dining programs at no additional expense to the school, a spokesperson said.

Zoom out: Other campuses throughout the country have been using these robots since at least 2019.

• Starship says it is now serving at least 50 colleges nationwide.