http://blog.caranddriver.com/what-took-you-so-long-dominos-introduces-pizza-delivery-robot/ What Took You So Long? Domino’s Introduces Pizza-Delivery Robot March 21, 2016 Andrew Wendler
[images http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dru-830x4671.jpg http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DOM_080316_670-626x382.jpg http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dominos-pizza-robot-91.jpeg video https://youtu.be/rb0nxQyv7RU Introducing DRU Domino's Australia Mar 17, 2016 Meet DRU - The newest team member to join the Domino's family! He's the world's first autonomous delivery vehicle! DRU has a passion for delivering piping hot meals and a nice warm smile to customers. While he won't be taking to the streets tomorrow, he is enjoying his early progress as a prototype and giving customers a glimpse into the future of what is possible ] Few things in life offer more reward for less effort than home-delivered pizza. But while the idea of sinking your teeth into a tasty slice can be appealing, the bummer is the pesky delivery guy, who loiters in the doorway judging your slovenly outfit and your measly tip. The solution? Robots, duh. But these aren’t just your run-of-the-mill C-3PO knock-off humanoid bots. They’re fully enclosed, four-wheeled carbohydrate-dispensing machines, complete with heated and cooled, lockable compartments that require the purchaser to enter a passcode to retrieve their delivered food. Its space-age, Kubrickian exterior styling is sure to appeal to middle-age sci-fi geeks as well as neighborhood paintball enthusiasts. Domino’s Pizza—which happens to share its hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with Car and Driver—has a long history of delivery innovation, including in recent years electric vehicles and Chevrolet Spark–based custom delivery wagons. When it came time to go robotic, Domino’s called in Australian technology startup Marathon Targets to help in the creation of its autonomous delivery vehicles. Containing thousands of dollars worth of military robotics tech, the Domino’s Robotic Unit (DRU) employs GPS tracking technology that syncs with Google Maps—naturally—and LIDAR to identify the surrounding environment, which essentially means it won’t crash into random vehicles or attack the neighbor kids playing in the street—although one imagines there are numerous hackers already addressing these shortcomings. Still just in the testing phases, the DRU is limited to urban areas, as its 12-mph top speed isn’t suitable for major roadways, although it could give much of the local fauna a run for its money. In this day and age, if a guy can’t get his hands on a tasty grease wheel without avoiding all forms of human interaction, what does it say about us as a species? Exactly. [© 2016 Hearst Communications] For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Domino-s-Electric-Pizza-Delivery-Robot-ts-12mph-tp4681163.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
