In February 2023, Notre Dame unveiled autonomous food delivery robots for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. With more than 50 on-demand robots, the service allows users to conveniently order food and drinks from on-campus eateries via the Grubhub app to be delivered nearly anywhere on campus, within minutes. Robot delivery is currently available from multiple campus eateries including Au Bon Pain, Garbanzo, The Gilded Bean, Hagerty Family Cafe, Modern Market, and Taco Bell.
“The robots provide increased accessibility to our campus units by conveniently bringing the food to our customers, filling a void in the service that we once had,” said Luigi Alberganti, executive director of campus dining. “They are part of our ongoing effort to bring innovative solutions to Campus Dining, they’ll expand our omnichannel retail strategy, and they’ll provide flexibility and accessibility for our students and guests,” Alberganti said.
Robot delivery is easy to use via the Grubhub app. To get started, diners open the Grubhub app and choose from a range of restaurants labeled “Offers Robot Delivery,” and then select the location to send their delivery. They can watch via an interactive map as the robot makes its journey to their location. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert to meet and unlock the robot through the app. Each robot can carry the equivalent of about three shopping bags of goods and operate in rain, sleet, and snow. For more information on robot delivery and the Grubhub app, click here.
Rumor has it the robots even cheer on the Irish by saying "Go Irish" at the completion of every delivery. Find out for yourself by placing a delivery order!