时政新闻学英语之130：美国一大学实现机器人送餐

原文见George Mason students have a new dining option: Food delivered by robots。

时政新闻学英语之130：美国一大学实现机器人送餐

(Starship Technologies) George Mason University is receiving 25 wheeled（移动） robots that will be used to deliver meals to students and faculty via an app. (Jeff Elkins)

By Peter Holley January 22 at 3:48 PM

At most universities, meal plans allow college students to take advantage of on-campus cafeterias or chow down at local restaurants.

Now, thousands of students at George Mason University will have another dining option at their disposal（可用的）: on-demand food delivery via an autonomous robot on wheels.

The school has received a fleet（总共） of 25 delivery robots that can haul up to 20 pounds each as they roll across campus at four miles per hour, according to Starship Technologies, the Estonia-based robotics company that created the delivery vehicles. The company — which claims its robots can make deliveries in 15 minutes or less — says the Fairfax, Va.-based school is the first campus in the country to incorporate（引入） robots into its student dining plan and has the largest fleet of delivery roots on any university campus.

The cost per delivery: $1.99.

“Students and teachers have little free time as it is, so there is a convenience for them to have their food, groceries（杂物） and packages delivered to them,” said Ryan Tuohy, Starship Technology’s senior vice president of business development. “Our goal is to make life easier, whether that means skipping the line（插队）, eating lunch on the lawn rather than in the cafe, or finding the time to eat better when studying for exams.”

“Commuters（移动者） can even meet the robot on their way into class,” he added.

[Hungry between classes? On this college campus, robot vending machines are delivering snacks to students.]

Robots delivering food are becoming more common on college campuses. This month, students at University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., began ordering snacks and beverages for the first time from a bright-colored roving（巡游的） robot on wheels known as the Snackbot. At the University of California at Berkeley, a food delivery company called Kiwi launched its robots on campus last year — before going viral（火爆） after one notable mishap（事故）.

If you live in Washington, D.C., or Redwood, Calif., Starship Technology’s small, boxy（矮胖的） robots — which bear some resemblance to an Igloo cooler — may look familiar. The machines were part of a pilot program last year that delivered meals from local restaurants in both cities, becoming a fixture（固定装置） on local sidewalks in some neighborhoods. In Britain, the company is using its technology to deliver packages, as well.

The company’s app allows George Mason students to order food from places such as Blaze Pizza, Starbucks and Dunkin,’ as well as a grocery store, though the list of options is supposed to increase in the coming weeks, according to organizers. Once an order has been placed, users drop a pin（别针） where they want their delivery to be sent. The robot’s progress can be monitored using an interactive map. Once the machine arrives, users receive an alert（提醒）, allowing them to unlock（解锁） the robot using the app.

To navigate the campus, robots rely on artificial intelligence, ultrasonic sensors and nine cameras. Two-way audio on board allows users to communicate with “human teleoperators” who monitor the robots from afar and can take over the machine at any moment, according to VentureBeat. The robots can cross streets, climb curbs（障碍物）, navigate around obstacles and operate in rain and snow, the company said.

[Want to get your packages delivered via robot? Now there’s an app for that.]

To launch the delivery program, Starship Technologies partnered with Sodexo, a company that manages dining on George Mason’s campus. Jeff McKinley, Sodexo district manager for George Mason, told Digital Trends that the delivery robots are “at the forefront of changing trends.”

“While that excitement is certainly a plus, we believe the program as a whole absolutely has staying power. Delivery services are everywhere, and are truly being driven by demand from this younger generation — and yet it is something that isn’t being done on many university campuses,” McKinley said. “You can get food delivered from off campus, but what about the food on campus? This program is the answer to that question.”