Yandex is working with Grubhub to expand its deliveries using autonomous delivery robots including onto campuses that are only accessible by foot.
The multi-year partnership with Grubhub, an online and mobile food ordering delivery vendor, will create faster and cost-effective deliveries on college campuses in the U.S.
The Yandex autonomous robot will join Grubhub’s current food delivery program specifically tailored for campus life. Grubhub currently partners with more than 250 college campuses in the U.S.
The Yandex self-driving delivery robots can navigate pavements, pedestrian areas and crosswalks to reach campus areas where cars cannot reach or are not allowed. These robots can handle delivery tasks traditionally performed with human guidance and provide last-mile logistics automation.
The service offered by Yandex is fully integrated into the Grubhub app and when the rover reaches its destination, the user receives a push notification and can retrieve the food by opening the rover’s hatch via the Grubhub app.
The robots can also:
- Operate in daylight or at nighttime.
- Operate during snowfall or rain.
- Use controlled and uncontrolled pedestrian crossing scenarios.
The robots use the same type of self-driving technology found in autonomous vehicles and Yandex has been operating the rovers in Russia for food deliveries since late 2020 through its Yandex.Eats and Yandex.Lavka platforms. Additionally, Yandex started a pilot program in April for delivering orders from a local restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The autonomous robots will be rolled out for deliveries at select campuses later this fall.
