Author ORCID Identifier
Betsy Stringam: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2810-6854
Executive Summary
Semiautonomous food delivery robots are expanding rapidly across college campuses, healthcare facilities, office complexes, and other food delivery settings. The semiautonomous food delivery robot market grew to about $800 million in 2025 and is expected to exceed $3.24 billion by 2030.
This report draws on research studies conducted at a university contract foodservice beta deployment site, involving in-depth interviews with employees and managers who worked directly with semiautonomous food delivery robots during and after implementation, triangulated with field notes and observations by the research team. The report highlights key findings and develops an original practitioner framework around these findings, called Robot-Ready.
Robot Ready provides recommendations for Stage 1: Pre-Deployment Planning, Stage 2: Pre-Deployment Configuration and Workforce Training, and Stage 3: Launch. The report further divides these stages into physical, technical, and organizational elements.
Recommended Citation
Stringam, Betsy Bender; Min, Somang; and Martinez, Jennifer
(2026)
"Robot Ready, Deploying Semi-Autonomous Food Delivery Robots,"
ICHRIE Research Reports: Vol. 11:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
DOI: www.doi.org/10.61701/384626.806
Available at:
https://via.library.depaul.edu/ichrie_rr/vol11/iss2/6
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Hospitality Administration and Management Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons
