Dominos Pizza to Employ Droids to Deliver Pizza in New Zealand
The first in its industry, global fast-food chain brand Domino's Pizza announced on Friday, March 18, that it will be introducing the world's first pizza delivery service done by droids.
The details over at Stuff New Zealand revealed that the initiative was sanctioned by the New Zealand government, represented by Transport Minister Simon Bridges who himself is optimistic on what the autonomous pizza delivery unit, called DRU, can do.
DRU, or Domino's Robotic Unit is a 3ft. - high, four-wheeled device that has a heated compartment big enough to hold as many as 10 pizzas. It also has separate compartment that helps keep drinks cold.
The DRU, which closely resembles that of the robot EVE in Disney-Pixar's movie "Wall-E," is equipped with sensors that enable it to "select the best path en route to its destination." It even has the capacity to avoid obstacles that may come on its way.
The capacity of its battery is enough for it to travel within 12.5-mile radius from its base store, a report from Time said. It works in a way that it will only dispense the customer's pizza once they successfully entered the correct code which, in the first place, was given to them by Domino's upon their order. The keypad can be found on its body.
"DRU is cheeky and endearing and we are confident that one day he will become an integral part of the Domino's family," New Zealand general manager Scott Bush was quoted as saying by the publication.
Bush was also cited by Stuff NZ revealing that the project had actually been in development "for the best part of 12 months." This is in line with the firm's focus on integrating technology and innovation in their service.
The store executive clarified that the delivery robot is slated to begin testing "within months." Mainstream use of the service, meanwhile, could happen "at least two to three years" from its dry run.
Stay tuned for more updates.
