Uber, Google, Apple, and Tesla are the names that pop up in your mind if someone mentions the self-driving cars. In fact, Domino’s Pizza is not even the last company you would think of while discussing autonomous vehicles. Not anymore!
DRU is the acronym for the ‘Domino’s Robotics Unit.’ It is essentially a self-driving car designed to deliver the freshest pizza to your home. DRU’s pizza robot has already hit the roads in the New Zealand. As of yet, the service is not available in the US.
Domino’s Pizza has claimed that DRU is ‘world’s first autonomous pizza delivery vehicle’ which is essentially a low-power fridge/oven on wheels.
The 3-foot-tall DRU can carry up to 10 pizzas in the ovular thorax of the autonomous vehicle. DRU can refrigerate the cold food items and keeps the pizza oven fresh.
However, the real impressive technology integrated into the DRU is its self-driving mechanism. Domino’s Pizza collaborated with Marathon Targets, a robotics firm based in Sydney to develop DRU.
The video introducing the DRU to the masses depicts the intelligent robot navigating the non-streets routes like driving over the grass. DRU was initially introduced in Australia, but the ground testing is being carried out in the New Zealand.
Once the customer places an order, DRU is loaded with pizza and the coordinates are entered. DRU can detect and avoid obstacles and reach its destination whereby the order can be retrieved from the specially built-in compartment by entering the code.
You can watch DRU in action in this video:
Do you prefer your pizza delivered via drone? Here’s the DRU drone being tested:
This 360-degree video of Domino’s Pizza delivering bot is indeed crazy!