Domino’s teams up with Nuro to roll out autonomous pizza deliveries in America
15 April, 2021
Domino's, the world largest pizza company by retail sales, teamed up with California-based self-driving delivery company Nuro to roll out autonomous pizza deliveries in the US.
The company began the service in Houston, Texas, this week.
Customers who place a prepaid order on the company’s website during specific time slots can want to have their pizza delivered by Nuro's R2 robot vehicle, Domino’s said in a statement.
"We are excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston," Dennis Maloney, Domino's senior vice president and chief innovation officer, said.
"There continues to be so much to understand about the autonomous delivery space. The growing demand for pizza creates the necessity for more deliveries, and we anticipate seeing how autonomous delivery can work along with existing delivery authorities to raised support the customers' needs."
The pilot initiative can help Domino’s know how customers respond to autonomous deliveries, how they connect to the robot and how it influences store operations, the Michigan-based company said.
Founded in 2016, Nuro has brought autonomous delivery options to local communities in Texas, Arizona and California. Its R2 robot may be the first fully autonomous, passenger-less on-road delivery vehicle with regulatory approval from the US Department of Transportation.
Nuro's mission is to boost every day life through robotics, Dave Ferguson, the company’s co-founder and president, said.
“For the first time, we are launching real life, autonomous deliveries with R2 and Domino's … we are excited to introduce our autonomous delivery bots to a select set of Domino's customers in Houston … we can not wait to see what they think," Mr Ferguson said.
Many companies are tinkering with robots to provide food, medicines and other essential what to reduce the scope of human contact to stem the spread of Covid-19.
San Francisco-based start-up Starship Technologies this past year rolled out its food delivery boxes on wheels in a variety of parts of the united states and the UK.
How it works
Customers who place an online order from a participating Domino's branch can choose to have their order delivered by the Nuro R2 robot. They'll receive text alerts, that will update them on R2's location and offer them with a personal identification number to retrieve their order.
“Customers may also track the automobile via GPS on their order confirmation page,” Domino’s said.
After the Nuro R2 robot finds its destination, customers will be prompted to enter their PIN number on the bot's touchscreen. R2's doors will then gently open upwards and customers can take their order.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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