Nuro’s self-driving robot will deliver Domino’s pizza orders to customers in Houston
Domino’s Pizza will begin delivering pizzas by way of Nuro driverless automobiles in Houston this week as a part of a pilot program, the corporate introduced Monday. The corporate says “choose customers” in Houston who make a pay as you go supply order from its retailer in the Woodland Heights neighborhood throughout sure dates and instances can have their pizza introduced to them by a Nuro R2 robot.
Right here’s how the pizza deliveries will work: a buyer locations and pays for an order on-line from the Woodland Heights retailer and opts in to have the order introduced by the R2. The shopper receives a novel PIN by way of textual content alert together with updates on the automobile’s location. When the robot automobile arrives, the client enters the PIN on its contact display, which opens the R2’s doorways. Pizza ensues.
A buyer retrieves her pizzas from Nuro’s R2 supply robot.Picture: Domino’s
Nuro’s R2 was the primary driverless automobile to obtain regulatory approval from the US Division of Transportation final February, giving it a particular exemption from federal security necessities. Based in 2018 by two former Google engineers, Nuro partnered with Domino’s in 2019 for the pizza supply pilot in Houston, which is lastly rolling out now.
Nuro automobiles are already getting used for grocery deliveries and for deliveries from CVS Pharmacy shops in Houston. Final April, Nuro mentioned it could use its automobiles to transport medical provides round two California stadiums that had been transformed into therapy amenities for sufferers with COVID-19.
“This program will permit us to higher perceive how customers reply to the deliveries, how they work together with the robot and the way it impacts retailer operations,” Dennis Maloney, Domino’s chief innovation officer, mentioned in a press release. “We glance ahead to seeing how autonomous supply can work together with Domino’s current supply consultants to higher assist the customers’ wants.”
