(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
How exciting to open the door to a pizza delivering robot! Domino's Robotic Unit (DRU) has made this possible! In March 2016, some residents in Brisbane , Australia opened their doors to DRU, a 3 feet tall robot delivering their pizza!
This is a collaboration between Domino's Pizza Australia and Marathon Robotics. The DRU is a fully automated robot traveling at a maximum speed of 12.4 miles in an hour! It only needs a battery recharge after traveling 12 miles!
How does the robot know when and where are obstacles when it is delivering pizza?
DRU is powered by LIDAR- a laser-based sensor technology that helps it to detect and avoid obstacles. It is weather and waterproof. The acrylic-plastic exterior protects the food and the aluminum and steel interior ensures a hot meal. The DRU can fit up to 10 pizzas and even has a separate cold area to place drink orders. It navigates using Google Maps and GPS-guidance.
Unlike the traditional motorbikes, the DRU does not use roads to avoid traffic congestion. Upon arrival, customers would need to key in an unique code given by the company to prevent wrong delivery or stolen pizza.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
Humans will not be out of a job though. Domino expects that DRU still need extensive testing that could take up to 2 years!
