Beginning this week in Houston, some customers may get their pizzas delivered by robots. Domino’s, the pizza giant, said on Monday that it has paired up with Nuro to let some customers get pizzas via the company’s R2 robot.
Nuro Can Make Pizza Delivery Human-less
Dennis Maloney, the senior VP and CIO at Domino’s, said on Monday that there are still many things to learn for the pizza brand when it comes to autonomous delivery. As such, the pairing with Nuro will help them understand better the customer reaction to such deliveries, their interactions, and overall effect on store operations.
At specific time periods, customers can ask for R2 from the Domino’s store in Woodland Heights via the website. The Nuro R2 makes use of thermal imaging, 360 degrees camera, and radar to manage movement. Customers will receive texts informing them of the current location of the robot. They will also get a PIN that will be needed by the bot to complete the delivery of the pizza.
In the duration of the pandemic, autonomous delivery of food has picked up because of it being contactless. If the partnership works out, the firm will undoubtedly be the leader in the sector. Dave Ferguson, the president and co-founder of Nuro, said that the company’s target is to make use of robotics to improve everyday life. He says that the company is looking forward to the feedback from Domino’s customers.
The partnership had been originally announced back in 2019 and began testing thereafter. Nuro also worked on delivering groceries by Kroger, and goods from CVS and Walmart in 2020. The US Transportation Department has given regulatory approval to Nuro’s self-driving automobiles. It is the first firm to achieve this.
As such, Domino’s seems to be the company’s first major attempt at restaurant delivery.
