Avride delivery robots to debut at BGSU, Grubhub to become new ordering platform

New Avride delivery robots are coming to Bowling Green State University for the 2026-27 academic year, bringing expanded delivery options, larger capacity and a globally recognized mobile ordering platform in Grubhub.

The partnership will create better integration with BGSU meal plans, Falcon Dollars and BG1 Bucks in addition to accepting credit and debit cards. Through Grubhub, the learning community will have more on-campus options, including mobile ordering at Starbucks using a meal plan.

Avride, a leader in autonomous driving technology, will replace Starship, which earlier this year ended all of its college and university contracts. Avride is scheduled to be active and ready to debut at BGSU on Aug. 17, making the University the fourth nationally to sign with the company.

Jon Zachrich, the director of marketing, communications and technology for BGSU Dining, said the partnership represents an upgrade for the University community, which will see more choices and better efficiency.

“This is a major improvement to a service that a lot of students and faculty really enjoyed,” Zachrich said. “Avride’s business model, their design and their integration with Grubhub provide a better system for both BGSU Dining and the people who are using the robots.”

The introduction of Avride’s delivery robots will provide the BGSU learning community with more choices – both in forms and payment and overall food and drink options – and improved technology.

The hatch of the Avride delivery robots is large enough to hold six extra-large (16.5-inch) pizzas and five 1.5-liter bottles at a time, about double the capacity of the previous delivery robots on campus.

The machines are operator-friendly and active more than 98% of the time. They also do not gather personal data – their cameras blur faces – their sensors create a 360-degree view and they are equipped with LiDAR, which uses pulsed lasers to create 3D modeling from up to 200 feet away, even without sunlight.

“From a capacity standpoint, we can deliver more, which is really nice, and Avride uses an active LiDAR system rather than just sensors, so they are a lot safer and smoother,” Zachrich said. “Avride was originally based on autonomous driving, so they were able to take a lot of that technology and create really safe robots. It’s a better technology robot, which we’re excited about.”

At first, BGSU will have 30 delivery robots that will limit deliveries to on-campus locations to optimize their efficiency, but the University could expand the operation over time.

“We want to make sure the on-campus experience is flawless for our students before we move to the next stop of a possible expansion,” Zachrich said. “Grubhub should provide a much better system and app architecture, and the actual robots themselves are larger and safer. These are significantly better from an experiential point of view.”

Students also will have access to Grubhub Premium when they sign up with their BGSU email address, which will waive delivery fees on eligible orders over $12 and offer a 5% pickup credit. Other deliveries will be a flat fee rather than a percentage, a cost-saving change from prior years.

When the fall semester begins, Zachrich said the new platform should seamlessly integrate with life at BGSU.

“Across the board, everybody is winning with this partnership,” Zachrich said. “We’re excited to see an upgraded experience.”

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