Robot Love: Celebrating four years of Starship robot deliveries at Mason

It was January 2019 when George Mason University became the first college campus in the United States to offer autonomous food delivery through Starship Technologies. Now Mason and Starship are celebrating four years of autonomous robot deliveries.

The service launched with 25 robots, which was the world’s largest fleet of delivery robots. The fleet has now grown to nearly 60 robots, serving the Fairfax Campus. The robots have delivered more than 333,000 orders and brought national and worldwide attention to Mason.
 

Here are some stats about Starship robots at Mason:

• Since launch, more than 335,489 orders have been completed.
• More than 17,334 people have placed orders.
• Mason loves Starship robots, but the person with the most orders "really" loves Starship robots, placing 659 orders!
• The robots have fueled student studies since 2019 with 39,828 coffees delivered.
• Pizza might be the quintessential college food, but the most popular item for the past four years has been Steak ‘N Shake’s The Original Double ‘N Fries (ordered 13,637 times!)
• If you’re at Whitetop Hall, you’re likely to spot a robot. This residence hall is the most popular delivery spot on campus.
• Breakfast became a popular meal once the robots arrived, but it still can’t beat lunch, which is the most popular delivery meal of the day.
• The robots have not only made an impression on campus, but they have a loyal following online too! Everybody wants a selfie with a robot, but Halloween is the prime “selfie season” for these robots thanks to Pumpkinbot!

Mason junior Madison Bryan-Barnes didn’t realize the robots delivered food when she first saw them on campus. “I always thought they were really cute and was surprised at how fast they moved,” she said. “The first time I ordered Starship I was having a really hard day, and I was grateful that I didn’t have to go anywhere to get my food. I like that Mason has a way for students to have their food delivered in a timely fashion.”

Noting Northern Virginia’s changeable weather, the integrative studies major added, “I've definitely used Starship when it’s been super cold or hot!”

“It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been doing deliveries at Mason for four years,” said Chris Neider, director of business development at Starship Technologies. “The campus community was excited about the technology and the cool factor from the start. We’ve taken what we learned at Mason and have incorporated those lessons across the U.S. We’re looking forward to the next four years and beyond at Mason!”

“Starship robots allowed Mason to bring an innovative, safe, and convenient dining solution to students—which was well-received by the campus community and proved to be extremely helpful during the pandemic,” said Pascal Petter, executive director, auxiliary services, at Mason. “We celebrate the milestones achieved thus far and look forward to our collaborative work in the future.”

Starship Technologies operates commercially on a daily basis around the world. Its zero-emission robots have made more than four million autonomous deliveries, traveled millions of miles, and make more than 140,000 road crossings every day.