Pizza Hut reveals a concept delivery truck with a built-in robotic kitchen

[Polycount]

WTF?! If you thought using a pair of sneakers to order pizza was one of Pizza Hut's stranger ideas, they're looking to surprise you yet again with the "Tundra Pie Pro," a concept delivery truck that houses a full robotic restaurant crew in the back.

While the technology industry typically leads the charge when it comes to AI and automation innovation, the food service industry has a lot to gain from experimenting with the tech as well.

That's precisely what Pizza Hut is doing now, according to an Engadget report. The pie-making retail chain is currently looking into the viability of a pizza delivery truck with a full robot restaurant crew set up in the back. The robots seem capable of handling the entire process of baking without any human intervention.

The truck, called the Tundra Pie Pro, is a result of Pizza Hut's new partnership with Toyota. The Pie Pro would be able to fully bake a pizza in a mere seven minutes. Interestingly, if the Pie Pro ever becomes a reality, it will run entirely on hydrogen.

With that said, for obvious reasons, the Pie Pro is not a real truck at the moment, and it probably won't be anytime soon. To be clear, robot kitchens do exist, but they're rare and seemingly expensive to develop.

And that's not to mention the logistic headaches one would face when hauling around a full robotic kitchen crew in varying weather conditions. The pictures we've seen so far of the Pie Pro don't show a roof of any kind, so unless customers want soggy pizza, the concept truck's current design iteration probably wouldn't be of much use.

Still, it's certainly a unique idea that could overhaul the pizza delivery market in the future, provided the design and technology behind it advance enough to make it possible.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/77174-pizza-hut-reveals-concept-delivery-truck-built-robotic.html

 

[tipstir]

Next is going to be fully robotic self driving Pizza Hut Van and Robotic Pizza Hut Delivery people will bring your pizza to the door nice and hot. You know this is coming soon. Might be 2030 for that to happen.

 

[MasterMace]

So it's a Food Truck?

 

[psycros]

Uh, we've had vending machines for a couple years that can bake a pre-made pizza just like this truck does. Meanwhile, Japan has machines that can actually put everything ON the pizza before baking it.

 

[cliffordcooley]

This will remain a concept. Or people will make it history, before they can blink good. For one it is a truck and will be impossible to keep clean of insects and dust. I would never buy from one of these. It is bad enough buying from an enclosed kitchen.

 

[Ravey]

We've had ice cream trucks for years.... Why not pizza trucks?

 

[Adhmuz]

The pickup truck platform just doesn't make sense in this application if automated, the whole cab is just wasted space. You can however easily put a cap on the bed and have that nice and sealed from the elements, but in reality this concept won't ever get past that stage. A van platform, which already have hydrogen powered solution available, would be the most logical choice for such an autonomous food delivery vehicle. But in America, the land of the pickup truck, this concept would get more attentions and perhaps have a higher chance of getting beyond just the concept stage.