Domino will launch robot pizza deliveries in Houston this year

Domino will start delivering pizza using self-propelled robots in the Houston area later this year, the company announced on Monday. The company will use delivery vehicles from Silicon Valley startup Nuro.

"Nuro's vehicles are specially designed to optimize food delivery, making them a valuable partner in our autonomous drive," said Kevin Vasconi of Domino in a press release. "The ability to give customers the choice of an unmanned delivery experience and our operators an additional delivery solution at a busy business speed is an important part of our autonomous driving test."

The deal is a coup for Nuro, which raised $ 940 billion in February, and is already delivering groceries to Kroger in the Houston area. Pizza delivery is one of the most common uses for last mile deliveries, and Domino is one of the largest companies in the business and delivers about 3 million pizzas per day. There is a lot of potential for Nuro if the Houston test is successful.

"Choose customers who order online from one of Domino's participating stores, get the opportunity to use Nuro's autonomous delivery", according to the press release. "Once selected, customers can track the vehicle via the Dominos app and will be provided with a unique PIN to unlock the room to get their pizza."

Nuro's customized vehicle is optimized for deliveries

Most companies developing self-propelled technology have either focused on autonomous passenger cars or long-distance trucking. Nuro, together with competitors like Udelv and Robomart, have focused on the last mile product delivery instead.

Nuro has a tailor-made delivery car called R1[ads1]. It is about half the length and width of a regular passenger car and has no room for a driver.

The small size has security benefits. The vehicle only takes up about half of the track width, giving Nuro rooms a swing if a child or pet darts into the street. It's much lighter than a regular car, which reduces the chances of serious injuries if it should hit anyone.

Nuro doesn't have to worry about the cargo being annoyed by a slow ride, so cars stay at low speeds below 25 miles per hour to minimize the chances of a serious accident. Without having to worry about passenger comfort, Nuro's cars can slam on the brakes the moment they face a situation they don't fully understand.

Most self-propelled companies are trying to make the problem easier by giving the tires to the vehicles their vehicles operate. This is difficult for a taxi service, since human passengers often travel outside arbitrary geographical boundaries. But it is natural for last-mile delivery, as these services always operate in a limited area around a physical store or warehouse.

While there is no one inside the car, Nuro still has every delivery car followed by a man-made car. The inside is an operator that monitors the delivery vehicle and can take over at a glance if something goes wrong. In February, Norwegian CEO Dave Ferguson told me that the company hoped to stop using the chase cars by the second quarter of 2019 – a step that will be necessary for the company to scale up quickly. However, a Nuro spokesman told me today that the company will continue to use chasing cars "for now."