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Robots meet pizzas

April 12, 2021.

Domino’s Nuro autonomous delivery vehicle.

Domino’s Nuro autonomous delivery vehicle. © Domino’s Pizza.

Expect to see a new kind of traffic in Woodland Heights, Texas: Domino’s will begin delivering pizza with small Nuro driverless vehicles as part of a pilot program at its store in this Houston neighborhood. The company says “selected customers” who place a prepaid order for delivery may choose to have their pizza brought by a Nuro R2 robot. The system is very simple: the customer places an order, pays online and chooses R2 delivery, then receives a unique PIN code via text alert. When the robot car arrives, the customer gets information about the location of the vehicle and enters the PIN code on a touchscreen, which unlocks the door to access the awaited ’zas. Nuro vehicles are already used for grocery and for CVS Pharmacy-store deliveries in Houston. Nuro’s R2 was the first driverless vehicle to obtain regulatory approval from the US Department of Transportation last February, granting it special exemption from federal safety requirements.

A customer retrieves her pizzas from Nuro’s R2 delivery robot.

A customer retrieves her pizzas from Nuro’s R2 delivery robot. © Domino’s Pizza.

The Verge, Kim Lyons, “Nuro’s self-driving robot will deliver Domino’s pizza orders to customers in Houston.”

2021-04-12