Popular pizza-maker Domino's has joined forces with Starship Technologies on starting a robot delivery service across Europe this summer. The tech firm has designed a fleet of self-traveling robots that could deliver the delicious food to locally customers. It's interesting to note that the tech-loving pizza company has joked about driverless delivery robots in 2015.
Now, the joke has turned into reality as robots will start carting the hot piping Italian staple to eager clients. The robots will be traveling along the pavement on six wheels for up to 4 miles an hour to deliver the goods within a one-mile radius around the store. The initial testing will take place in selected shops in German and Dutch cities.
The iconic pizza store has even already set up a dedicated Domino's Robotic Unit (DRU) to carry out testing on the new technology. This is not the first time that the food company dabbled in technology to enhance its service as it initiated an airborne pizza delivery in New Zealand. It's also worthy to note that last year, the DRU came up with a ground drone that could deliver a warm pizza right at your doorstep.
Rather than some science fiction humanoid, the tech firm built the devices to have the look of a self-driving food cart. According to Digital Spy, they can carry just over 40 lbs. of delicious pizza goodness to deliver it to customers they can track within the specified distance. The giant pizza franchise's boss Don Meij ventured into this mode of delivery to ensure that "customers can get the hottest, freshest-made pizza delivered directly to them, wherever they are".
Starship Technologies was launched by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis in 2014. According to TechCrunch, the tech startup has also recently inked food delivery partnerships with Door Dash and Postmates in the US. However, Domino’s has yet to announce if it will deploy its pizza-delivering robot in the country.
