Food delivery robots to whisk lunch to hungry DCU students

The purpose of the electronically-powered robots will be to transport meals to students in lightning-quick time.

The black four-wheeled bots weigh around 45kg and can travel in a 6km radius, at a brisk walking pace of 8kmh.

The cargo bay, which stores the food is mechanically locked throughout the journey, can be opened only by the recipient via a smartphone app, while location of the robots is also tracked.

While robot deliveries are a regular sight on college campuses in the US, the Dublin tech start-up responsible for the machines have recently confirmed that they are eyeing up more universities in Ireland.

Hosted Kitchens founder Seán Murray said: “We’re excited to bring these food-delivery robots to the campus at DCU.”

The company is inviting the country to help come up with a brilliant name for the robots.

“This is a market-first for Ireland. These robots are revolutionising food deliveries and that in itself I hope is a good indicator of the innovation that is at the heart of Hosted Kitchens.”

With a total of €1,500 in prizes for the best entries: €1,000 in food delivery vouchers for the winner, and a runners-up prize of €500 in food delivery vouchers, the company are hoping the public will come up with a creative moniker for the bots.

Between Friday, December 10 and Monday, December 13, Entrants can submit their suggested names via the Hosted Kitchens social media platforms – Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram – using the hashtags #TheRobotsAreComing and #HostedKitchens.

Everyone is being encouraged to be as creative and witty as they like.

Still only a year old, Hosted Kitchens have also already facilitated the rapid expansion of several Irish food businesses and outlets, including Mad Egg, Vocho and Hush Burger.

With food deliveries and eating-at-home sky-rocketing, they have allowed restaurants to increase online orders and move into new locations.

Backed by high-profile private investors, they completed a seed round of €1.25M earlier this year.