ORONO, Maine — Students and staff who returned to the University of Maine this year encountered a new presence on campus.
Kiwibots are four-wheeled, semiautonomous robots circulating campus with one purpose: food delivery. The machines have a camera system and a GPS system that allow them to transverse the campus.
The Kiwibots are not taking jobs away from students. Despite a nearly $2 increase in student wages, only 158 students filled the nearly 300 open positions on campus.
“We are actually hiring more people to form a team to be able to package and deliver the food to the bot. So jobs right now are actually growing because of the Kiwibots,” Santiago Rave, innovations manager for University of Maine Dining Sodexo, said.
With specially designed paddle-like wheels, the Kiwibots will be able to drive themselves in snowy weather. The University of Southern Maine and Southern Maine Community College has had previous success with the Kiwibots in the winter.
Students who have already used the robot delivery service this year complement it.
“It was super cool. It was pretty easy. All you do is order through an app, and it brought it right to my dorm. I actually thought it wasn’t going to be as smooth, but I liked it,” UMaine student Riley Hewson said.
The University of Maine currently has 15 Kiwibots circulating campus to deliver food. After this year, the dining administration will reevaluate the need for more Kiwibots.
As far as their capacity for the amount of food they can carry, the Kiwibots have been held in high regard.
“You can fit about two meals in there. Two drinks, you know. Two sandwiches, a couple bangs of chips. And I think we can even fill it with about four pizzas,” Rave said.