Domino’s Tests Autonomous Delivery with Nuro in Houston
Have you ever had your pizza delivered by a robot? Yes, that’s right – a robot. If not, and if you live in Houston, you may have the chance to! Domino’s and Nuro have officially launched autonomous pizza delivery out of one store, located at 3209 Houston Ave., in Woodland Heights.
Wondering how it works? Select customers who place a prepaid order on dominos.com from the participating Domino’s store can opt to have their order delivered by Nuro’s R2 robot – the first completely autonomous, occupantless on-road delivery vehicle with a regulatory approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Customers who are selected will receive text alerts, which will update them on R2’s location and provide them with a unique PIN to retrieve their order. Customers may also track the vehicle via GPS on their order confirmation page. Once R2 arrives, customers will be prompted to enter their PIN on the bot’s touchscreen. R2’s doors will then gently open upward, revealing the customer’s hot Domino’s order.
“We’re excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino’s customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer. “There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space. This program will allow us to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations. The growing demand for great-tasting pizza creates the need for more deliveries, and we look forward to seeing how autonomous delivery can work along with Domino’s existing delivery experts to better support the customers’ needs.”
Domino’s is the first quick-service restaurant company in the U.S. to launch autonomous pizza delivery. The company previously tested self-driving delivery with Ford, with a vehicle that was staffed by a safety driver. However, this marks the first time Domino’s will offer a fully autonomous delivery experience.
“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, Nuro co-founder and president. “We’re excited to introduce our autonomous delivery bots to a select set of Domino’s customers in Houston. We can’t wait to see what they think.”
Domino’s hopes to expand self-driving delivery throughout the Houston area in the future.
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