Domino’s has been investing in driverless pizza delivery for several years as it seeks to make delivery faster, easier and cheaper.
Domino’s Pizza said Monday that an autonomous car made by Nuro will start delivering pizzas in Houston this week as part of a pilot program.
Customers will be required to place a prepaid order on Domino’s website for delivery from the chain’s Woodland Heights location. If their order falls within certain days and times, they can opt to have Nuro’s R2 robot drop off their pizza.
Once the robot arrives, customers will enter a unique PIN on its touch screen to prompt the doors to open so they can retrieve their pizza.
The R2 robot is the first completely autonomous on-road delivery vehicle to receive regulatory approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Nuro, which was founded by two former members of Google’s self-driving car team, raised $500 million in its last round of funding.
Over the past decade, Domino’s has invested heavily in technology to make ordering and receiving a pizza faster and easier in an attempt to lure customers away from independent pizzerias and rival chains.
