The goal of this project is to find different ways that the ​Starships on Purdue’s campus to increase human-to-​human interaction.

Ideation

• Salt distribution attachment + wheel improvement
  
• Environmental monitoring (air quality, temperature, etc)
  
• Place solar panels on top and make it a mobile charging ​station for summer picnics
  

The idea my team and I decided to stick to is to create a ​borrowing and renting system within a certain range for ​Purdue students to have easy access to borrow items with ​more ease, which would be done with Starships as the ​middleman.

Storyboarding and Sketching

Storyboarding helped to see the ​uses and scenarios that Starships are ​used in and get a better idea of the ​mental models of the user group.

Secondary Research

To learn more about how robots and humans interact in the real world and how they view each other, we researched about how:

• what factors influence customer satisfaction with these services and how satisfied customers become loyal to both FDRS and ​the restaurants that use them.
  
• the perception and acceptance of robots in everyday life by studying their effects on social media posts.
  
• challenges such as liability for accidents under traffic law and compliances, and potential societal resistance due to the overuse ​of pedestrian walkways.
  
• the positives of using Starships, such as reducing CO2 emissions
  

Primary Research

We learned about the ways that Starships are used by Purdue students through Interviews. We also conducted observation sessions ​to see how Starships interact with students in the real world

Interview Findings

• Purdue students share a consistently positive ​view of Starship robots, highlighting their ​convenience, user-friendly app, and time-​saving benefits.
  
• Identified downsides include delivery tracking ​issues, potential quality reduction in delivered ​food, and a lack of direct communication with ​restaurant customer service.
  
• Design enhancements for the robot service ​incorporate maintaining convenience and ease ​of use while addressing communication ​concerns by allowing users to interact directly ​with the product owner for negotiations and ​arrangements.

Observation Findings

• Observation took place on Thursday, February ​15th, from 9:00 am to 9:20 am, near Purdue ​Memorial Union and Oval Drive next to ​Wetherill Hall of Chemistry.
• Starships were monitored crossing sidewalks, ​bike lanes, and roads, emitting chirping ​sounds and flashing orange lights. A delivery ​was observed, highlighting the ease of ​interaction for Starbucks employees who ​loaded the product by scanning a QR code.
• During delivery, Starships stopped abruptly ​when encountering people, with varying ​reactions from individuals intentionally ​stopping or avoiding the robot, allowing it to ​proceed on its path.