Domino’s announced on Monday it will be launching self-driving pizza delivery, starting this week in the United States.
The world’s largest pizza company based on global retail sales said it has partnered with self-driving delivery company Nuro and the latter’s R2 autonomous vehicle.
Domino’s in Woodland Heights at 3209 Houston Avenue in Houston, Texas, will let customers choose the Nuro R2 robot for pizza delivery this week. The R2 self-driving delivery vehicle has regulatory approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“We’re excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino’s customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer, in a statement.
The process will work like this: customers will place a Domino’s order off the company’s website, then choose for R2 delivery. Then, customers will get mobile text alerts on the status and location of their pizza. To get your pizza, a PIN code must be entered on the bot’s touchscreen, which will then see doors “gently open upward”, revealing your hot pizza.
Here’s a video previously shared by Nuro showing off the R2 on the road:
“Nuro’s mission is to better everyday life through robotics. Now, for the first time, we’re launching real world, autonomous deliveries with R2 and Domino’s,” added Dave Ferguson, Nuro co-founder and president, in a statement. “We’re excited to introduce our autonomous delivery bots to a select set of Domino’s customers in Houston. We can’t wait to see what they think.”
