Autonomous vehicle developer Yandex Self-Driving Group has announced a multi-year partnership with Grubhub, an online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform for college campuses in the U.S.
The partnership between Grubhub and Yandex SDG aims to create faster and more cost-effective deliveries across more than 250 colleges. It said the solution will give students the ability to integrate meal plans directly into their Grubhub account and access restaurants both on and off campus for delivery and pickup.
Grubhub and Yandex SDG will be rolling out delivery by autonomous robots at select campuses later this autumn.
“We chose to partner with Grubhub for campus delivery because of Grubhub’s unparalleled reach into college campuses across the United States, as well as the flexibility and strength of their ordering platform,” said Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Yandex Self-Driving Group.
“We are delighted to deploy dozens of our rovers, taking the next step in actively commercialising our self-driving technology in different markets across the globe.”
Yandex autonomous delivery robots can navigate pavements, pedestrian areas and crosswalks, and reach campus areas not accessible by car. The company said such functionality enables the robots to handle delivery tasks traditionally performed with human guidance and provides efficient last-mile logistics automation.
Robotic delivery service offered by Yandex SDG is fully integrated into the Grubhub app. As the rover approaches its destination, the diner will receive a push notification. The delivery can be accessed through the rover’s hatch via the Grubhub app.
Yandex delivery robots are built on the self-driving technology stack as the company’s autonomous cars. They can operate in broad daylight and at night-time, in moderate snowfall and rain, as well as in controlled and uncontrolled pedestrian crossing scenarios.
“As we looked for a robot delivery partner, we recognised that we not only needed best-in-class technology, but the resources and scale to meet the unique demands of our campus clients,” said Sean Ir, director of strategic partnerships at Grubhub.
“Yandex was the clear choice, and together we will serve colleges and universities better than ever before.”
