The tiny white six-wheeled autonomous robots at Bowling Green State University have made more than
100,000 deliveries since being introduced.
At its peak, dining services was averaging about 1,000 deliveries a day with the Starship robots, said
Michael Paulus, director of dining services for BGSU, who talked about the robots at a recent Bowling
Green Exchange Club meeting.
“It’s been quite the wild ride with the Starship robots on campus,” Paulus said.
The robots have been delivering locally since about two weeks before the coronavirus pandemic shut down
campus. Since that time, the robots have been critical in allowing social distancing contactless dining
services, Paulus said.
“They’re cute little things, aren’t they?” said Clif Boutelle, who coordinated the Zoom meeting for
members.
BGSU is the first campus in the United States to allow the robots to go off campus, which allows
townspeople to order food and drinks from several campus dining outlets, including Starbucks, Marco’s
Pizza and Panda Express.
Of the nearly 40 Starship robots that serve campus and surrounding areas, only two have lost the battle
against other vehicles.
“There have been two occasions where the robots did not win,” Paulus said.
A couple of wheels have been lost and one wouldn’t communicate with the other robots. That one was sent
back to be reprogrammed.
“I don’t know how it hit him, but it knocked him dizzy,” Paulus said.
There has not yet been any damage to a vehicle.
Someone picked one up and put it in his truck when they were first introduced.
But with the built-in GPS, it didn’t take long to find him, Paulus said. With the value of the robot,
taking one is a felony.
“I wave to the Starship every time I see them,” said club member Jenny Swope.
“You’d be surprised at how many people have conversations with the robots,” Paulus said.
Starship is a company in Estonia, which has full ownership of this concept. Currently it operates mostly
in Europe where its primary service is delivering groceries through smaller communities.
“To me, it’s a natural delivery service,” Paulus said, adding that he is trying to set up the service
with the university bookstore.
Michael Penrod, director at the Wood County District Public Library, said this service would have been
welcomed when everything was shut down last spring.
“If you ever decide to reach out beyond the campus, we would love to be included in the conversation to
at least see if anything might be feasible,” he said.
Seeing how it can expand its services is a great test model for the U.S., Paulus said.
“I think the sky’s the limit.”
Paulus said he has had nothing but praise for how the robots adapt to their routes.
“As they’re travelling through the day, if they have any type of obstacles within their projected track,
they will document that. When they come back to the hive at night to recharge, they (share that) with
their network,” he said. “They actually learn from each other any types of obstacles.”
They have figured out garbage days and which streets have cans on them, and will go around them.
“That is simultaneously cute and creepy,” said club member Michele Raine.
A human operator is assigned to each robot who can take over if it gets stuck. There are eight student
technicians paid by Starship to maintain the robots and help with navigation. Dining services has 20
employees that fill the orders.
“I grew up with ‘The Jetsons,’” Paulus said. “I didn’t think I’d be working with robots and dining
services at this time.”
An app can be downloaded to make it easy to place an order (www.starship-falcons.com). The GPS can tell
you where it is within 2 inches.
After placing an order, payment can be made with a credit card or BGSU meal plan.
The app tells how long it will be before the order is delivered, and its progress can be followed through
the app. Once the robot arrives, “you and only you can open that robot with a QSR code that is available
on your cell phone.
“So, you’re the only one that can get into that robot once it (arrives) with your deliverable goods,”
Paulus said.
There are 10 cameras on each robot and they can travel up to four miles an hour. They can hold their
charge for 18 operating hours. They currently run from 6 a.m.-2 a.m.
Once the delivery is made, the robot goes back home, Paulus said.
The program has branched off campus to within a four-mile radius. A map on the BGSU Dining Services
webpage outlines the area. It only travels in areas where there are sidewalks and crosswalks.
There is a $1.99 delivery fee, and a 10% service charge based on the value of the transaction.
Campus employees have had to peel off racing stripes and googly eyes placed on the robots. A number of
students have also tried to ride them.
“We’ve had more students defending the robots,” Paulus said. “The community has really adopted them.”
Paulus estimated there could be 1,500-1,700 daily deliveries this spring semester. That includes those in
the community.
BGSU is Starship’s highest volume delivery in the country, he said.
“We are the benchmark for any other locations,” Paulus said “Where we go from here … it’s a convenience
item for the students, it’s a novelty. Is it ever going to go away? It’s going to get bigger.”
Paulus came to the university in 2010 when Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services entered into a
partnership with BGSU to provide dining services and facilities to the campus.
Under his leadership, BGSU dining has become a best-practices model in the campus dining industry,
attracting representatives from other universities to see BGSU’s operations.
In 2002, while he was at the University of Utah, he was in charge of feeding competitors and officials
taking part in the Winter Olympic Games.
As an aside, Paulus did confirm the rumor that Dunkin Donuts was leaving its on-campus site, which it has
had for around 10 years.
“Am I looking at replacing them? Yes, the rumors are true.”
