CORVALLIS, Ore. — A suspect was arrested Tuesday after Oregon State University reported a bomb threat related to its robot food delivery system. The robots were isolated to a safe location where a technician inspected them, and no explosive devices were found, according to a news release.
Around 1:40 p.m., OSU tweeted that the "emergency is over" and people could "resume normal activities" while the robots were inspected.
The university had advised everyone on campus to avoid the robots and not open them.
"Urgent OSU Alert: Bomb Threat in Starship food delivery robots," the school tweeted at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday. "Do not open robots. Avoid all robots until further notice. Public Safety is responding."
The robots wheel their way around campus, delivering food orders to students, staff or faculty who order food on the Starship app.
OSU tweeted around 1 p.m. that the robots were being remotely isolated in a safe location, and a technician began investigating them soon after.
"Stay vigilant and report any incident related information to 737-7000," the school tweeted.
"Oregon State University is actively investigating a bomb threat involving food delivery robots on its Corvallis campus. The OSU Department of Public Safety is following protocols for this evolving situation to protect the safety and security of OSU’s students, staff and visitors, which is our top priority," said Rob Odom, OSU's vice president of university relations and marketing.
In 2020, OSU introduced the new food delivery system, with an initial fleet of 20 delivery robots from Starship Technologies. Dozens more have been added since, with about 75 currently in service.
The robots use GPS to navigate the campus and onboard sensors help them travel on sidewalks and navigate obstacles. KGW reported in 2020 that the Starship food delivery robots were being used on about 10 college campuses around the country. In the three years since, that has expanded to nearly 50 colleges, serving more than 1 million students.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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