Your Next Pepperoni Pizza May Be Delivered by Robots

The American fast-food chain Domino’s has come up with a new idea that could change the delivery industry. They have created a robot car delivery service that autonomously takes the order to the destination.

Customers who choose the robot service will receive updates of its location and a code that permits them to retrieve the order. Once the vehicle arrives, the customer will insert the number in a touchscreen and the car will open, allowing access to the food. Unfortunately, this innovative project will only be accessible to select clients in Houston for now.

This friendly-looking robot was specially designed to help consumers interact with it, making it easy to use. It navigates to its destination by selecting the best path to travel and dodging obstacles that its sensors perceive. This ensures a successful and safe delivery.

The robot car developed by Nuro was the first independent, human-free on-road delivery vehicle to get regulatory approval, making this service one of a kind. However, similar alternatives have been tested in the past. In 2017, a self-driving Ford Fusion hybrid was used by Domino’s to deliver pizzas to random customers. The company also delivered pizza via a drone in the UK in 2013. Similarly, Pizza Hut announced three years ago that it was working with Toyota to release an autonomous distribution vehicle. These tests are still relatively new, and distribution services are unlikely to change dramatically shortly.

Self-driving vehicles are far from common. Companies have worked for years, and this type of project has been proved to be much harder to develop than expected. Although Nuro vehicles are already being used for grocery and pharmacy deliveries in Houston, it is uncertain how much autonomous machines will progress in the next couple of years.

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Bibliography

Benveniste, A. (2021, April 13th). Domino's is launching a pizza delivery robot ca. CNN Business. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/12/tech/dominos-pizza-delivery-robot/index.html

Domino's Australia. (n.d.). Dom Autonomous Delivery Vehicle. Domino's. https://www.dominos.com.au/inside-dominos/technology/dru

Lyons, K. (2021, April 12th). Nuro’s self-driving robot will deliver Domino’s pizza orders to customers in Houston. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/12/22379853/nuro-self-driving-robot-delivery-dominos-pizza-houston