Pepsico is testing autonomous snack delivery robots across University of the Pacific campus
The students at the University of the Pacific Campus in Stockton, California, are in for a treat!
PepsiCo’s Hello Goodness and Robby Technologies have collaborated to bring around the fancy self-driving vending wagons that work using an app which can easily be installed on phones. This delivers the students any snack of their choice on the location they want.
Delivery robots were first introduced all around the world but the minor complexities involving the rules and regulations these robots would have to follow created a turmoil. To test out these programmable devices, a college campus seems like a much more feasible location with less rules and regulations involved.
But The Snack Bot is the first of its kind where two major food and beverage companies based in the US have joined hands to cater to students’ needs who are unable to head to the cafeteria due to their tight schedules. Hello Goodness has opted for this marketing strategy for healthier snacks, where they plan to extend their vending devices to 50,000 locations by the end of 2019.
The snack bot plays the role of an on demand vendor available from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm around campus. Students possessing the University of Pacific email address have links to the downloadable app and the snack bot can be alerted via this app. The robot can then deliver the ordered snacks to 50 predesignated sites around the 175 acre campus.
The snack bot is smart enough to navigate its way through rain or during the night using headlights and cameras integrated into the system. Each of the snack bots can remain charged for a distance of 20 miles.
“We’re thrilled to welcome snack bot to our campus, along with its convenient and nourishing options,” said Matt Camino, Director of e-Commerce at University of the Pacific Stockton. “This innovative technology from PepsiCo is enhancing campus life for our students, staff and faculty alike, who have embraced this new way of snacking from PepsiCo.”
A robot that can bring you snacks around campus! What more could a student ask for?
All Images: © Pepsico
Source: PepsiCo (via: New Atlas)