Domino's starts self-driving pizza delivery service with Nuro autonomous cars

[jsilva]

What just happened? Have you ever thought about getting a pizza delivered to your doorstep by a robot? Well, that's now a thing. Selected Houston customers can buy a pizza from Domino's website, select its new autonomous pizza delivery service, and a Nuro R2 vehicle will come to their home with the order.

Domino's customers can select the self-driving pizza delivery service when placing a prepaid order from Domino's in Woodland Heights, at 3209 Houston Ave, depending on the service's availability. Once ordered, customers will receive alerts informing them about the order's state and a unique PIN to withdraw the goods from the vehicle. Customers may also track the location using GPS through the order confirmation page.

When the R2 reaches its destination, customers will have to input the PIN provided in the vehicle's display. Once introduced correctly, the R2's hatches open so customers can pick up the order.

Nuro may have a few competitors, such as Zoox, but as of 2021, the R2 robot is the only autonomous, occupant-less on-road delivery vehicle approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Dennis Maloney, senior VP and chief innovation officer at Domino's, stated that the "program will allow us [Domino's] to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations."

"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," said Dave Ferguson, co-founder and president of Nuro. "We can't wait to see what they [Houston customers] think." Dave added.

Domino's and Nuro's partnership was announced in 2019, but it's not the only company that the pizza maker has associated with to develop an autonomous pizza delivery service. That same year, Domino's also partnered with Ford for using autonomous Ford Fusion cars to deliver pizzas.

Nuro also has joined forces with others to develop their own self-driving delivery services, including Kroger for groceries and CVS for prescription medicine.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/89270-domino-starts-self-driving-pizza-delivery-service-nuro.html

 

[psycros]

This defeats the purpose of not needing to leave your home to get a pizza. The vehicles are also going to be magnets for thieves and rubberneckers.

 

[GLenn63]

Sounds like you could save money on a tip.

 

[Avro Arrow]

"Nuro's mission is to better everyday life through robotics."
No, Nuro's mission is to make money and get rich. Everything else is incidental, just like every other corporation. Is anyone still around who's stupid enough to believe that line?

 

[Scrye74]

"Nuro's mission is to better everyday life through robotics."
No, Nuro's mission is to make money and get rich. Everything else is incidental, just like every other corporation. Is anyone still around who's stupid enough to believe that line?

That's like saying, "Your mission, as a human, is to breathe and eat." Obviously they exist to make money. Their mission, or mission statement, is about how they get there. I could just as easily ask you what you do for a living and, regardless of what you say, I would reply, "NO. You breathe and eat. Everything else is incidental."

 

[Avro Arrow]

That's like saying, "Your mission, as a human, is to breathe and eat." Obviously they exist to make money. Their mission, or mission statement, is about how they get there. I could just as easily ask you what you do for a living and, regardless of what you say, I would reply, "NO. You breathe and eat. Everything else is incidental."

It wasn't always that way. There was a time when people did what they did because it was their passion and money was secondary. There was a time when people were more proud of the job that they did than how much it paid. That's when society was in a much healthier state than we are now.

 

[Ean Mogg]

Umm what will you do when it can't deliver to the person and hand the pizza to a person which I believe is expected with delivery in any country? Or like me I'm partially disabled so can't out to pick anything out of a robot/drone so what will they do ? And I doubt the security is any better like the smaller versions that could be picked up and thrown in a van lol so what's stopping this one being robbed as it goes down a street,