Domino’s Robot Pizza Delivery In Houston

Perhaps believing there aren’t enough unemployed delivery drivers in Texas, Domino’s Pizza will deliver pies via Nuro R2 autonomous robot vehicles in Houston. Domino’s selling point to customers: no tipping.

Houston traffic. Robot cars with a top speed of 25 MPH. Texan gun ownership rate. What could possibly go wrong?

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More:

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

“Houston, we have a robot: Nuro, Domino’s team up for autonomous pizza delivery,” Brian Straight, Modern Shipper, via FreightWaves

“Beep Beep: Domino’s Is Testing a Self-Driving Delivery Car,” Jenny G. Zhang, Eater

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Self-Driving Pizza

Self-driving Domino’s Pizza vehicles now roam the streets of Miami:

“Consumers will soon be able to opt to order their pies, groceries, and on-demand rides to be conveyed via robot (with backup drivers behind the wheel in case of emergency). The county, meanwhile, hopes that the experiment can be a learning opportunity and a signal to other self-driving technology leaders.

‘We want to learn from Ford what it is we need to do to get ready for these vehicles, so that when AVs become a reality, fully, we’ll be one of the first communities to get them,’ said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Giménez. ‘We want to let the world know that Miami is ready to be a testbed.’”

— “Self-Driving Pizza Just Hit Miami,” Laura Bliss, CityLab

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Top image (yes, it’s a Bentley) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Domino’s Robot Pizza Delivery

Domino’s R&D lab in Australia, in collaboration with Marathon Robotics, has developed the Domino’s Robotic Unit (DRU) prototype, a self-propelled autonomous unit that will deliver hot pies to your door. DRU is said to be “cheeky and endearing” with “a friendly persona.” Do you still have to tip?

Domino’s Pizza in Japan

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, which operates pizza outlets in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, Monaco, and the Netherlands, bought a 75 percent interest in Japan’s Domino’s Pizza chain last year. This year the 61 Japanese stores helped boost the profit pie a hot and tasty 48 percent.

And then there’s this:

US Government: ‘Eat More Pizza!’

13 percent of Americans eat pizza each day (no, not the same 13 percent …). That’s a lot of people and lots of calories, saturated fat, and sodium, too.

And Uncle Sam helps. The USDA runs a “dairy checkoff program” though small assessments on milk sales to processors, raising hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The funds are turned over to Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) to encourage public demand for dairy products. U.S. fluid milk consumption is down, but cheese eating is way up, and 25 percent of that cheese is melted on pizza.  DMI has a partnership with Domino’s Pizza, America’s 2nd largest retailer of pizza-like objects, and paid Domino’s $35 million over the past 3 years to develop and market cheesier pies.

Read about it here:

“How the U.S. government spends millions to get people to eat more pizza,” Brad Plumer, Washington Post blog

“USDA reports on pizza consumption and on dairy checkoff program initiatives to increase pizza demand,” Park Wilde, US Food Policy blog

Pizza Saves Woman’s Life

 

A pizza a day keeps the Reaper away, at least in Memphis. That’s where Domino’s delivery driver Susan Guy noticed that 82-year-old Jean Wilson hadn’t ordered her daily Large-Thin-Crust-Pepperoni-With-2-Diet-Cokes in three whole days. Horrified, Ms. Guy alerted the authorities, who found the elderly pizza fan collapsed on the floor, and rushed her a hot, Double Cheese — um, no, rushed her to the hospital, where she’s doing fine. Except for the food.

Yet more proof the US doesn’t need your so-called “health care reform.” The private sector is doing just fine. Call 911 — thirty minutes, or it’s free.