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Domino's Will Deliver Pizza By Drone and By Robot (roboticstrends.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the transporting-tomato-sauce dept.

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes CNN Money's report that "pizzas will soon be dropping from the heavens": Domino's demonstrated its ability to deliver food via a drone Thursday in New Zealand and plans to test actual deliveries to customers next month. "It doesn't add up to deliver a two kilogram package in a two-ton vehicle," said Scott Bush, a general manager for Domino's Pizza Enterprises, which is independent of the U.S. chain and operates in seven countries. "In Auckland, we have such massive traffic congestion it just makes sense to take to the airways."

A Domino's customer who requests a drone delivery will receive a notification when their delivery is approaching. After going outside and hitting a button on their smartphone, the drone will lower the food via a tether. Once the package is released, the drone pulls the tether back up and flies back to the Domino's store.
Robotics Trends has video from the flight, and reports that Domino's is also testing a pizza-delivering robot. Their Domino's Robotics Unit "has four wheels, is less than three feet tall, and has a heated compartment that can hold up to 10 pizzas. It can deliver pizzas within a 12.5-mile radius before needing to be recharged."

50 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. cold pizza by kimvette · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just what we need - pizzas delivered under a nice cooling fan! Did Dominoes decide their pizzas didn't suck enough - that they had to lower the bar further in their race against Pizza Hut for bragging rights for the "worst pizza ever?"

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    1. Re: cold pizza by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It says that about the wheeled robot, not the flying drive that would have propeller(s). Are you... well, if not a moron, at least embarrassed?

    2. Re: cold pizza by kimvette · · Score: 2

      > Are you a fucking moron?

      I can read. Apparently you cannot. AC addressed your idiotic response already. Read the AC's response to your brain spasm.

      --
      The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    3. Re: cold pizza by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      I think the engineers probably thought of that to be honest. Between that, and in colder regions, it is obligatory. Except for maybe where I live, (the arid Sonoran Desert, which Phoenix is a part of) where having a fan outside just means you get hot air blown in your face.

    4. Re: cold pizza by ls671 · · Score: 1

      You guys have all missed the point!

      Classified parts of the design involves the flying drones being powered by jet propulsion laboratory.

      The design uses an eon drive that emits just enough badassium radiation to keep your pizza warm.

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    5. Re: cold pizza by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're both fucking morons, especially you. Pizza already comes in a bag to keep it hot.

    6. Re:cold pizza by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Keep the drone, throw the pizza in the garbage.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    7. Re: cold pizza by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      I generally think of the words "Domino's" and "Pizza" as mutually exclusive terms....

      I'd recommend you toss the pizza and just eat the drone.

      ;)

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  2. Those jobs aren't coming back in 10 years by Oarsman · · Score: 1

    It'll take'em a while to get it fully regulated and perfected, but the future is coming. Gone are the days of the high school student with a new license making a buck where a drone can do it cheaper. :|

    1. Re:Those jobs aren't coming back in 10 years by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      Making a buck? Those days have been gone for a long time. Odds are you'll spend more in mileage, maintenance, and fuel on your vehicle than you'll make on today's slave wages.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    2. Re:Those jobs aren't coming back in 10 years by afgam28 · · Score: 2

      +1. Many years ago my brother worked as a pizza delivery driver for a bit of extra income. We sat down and worked out the expenses, and found out he was basically breaking even. Most people have no idea how expensive it is to operate a car. I suspect Uber and Lyft drivers are in the same boat.

    3. Re:Those jobs aren't coming back in 10 years by jrumney · · Score: 1

      No need to just suspect. There must be a very good reason why licensed taxi drivers can not just lower their prices to compete (and not just in places like NY where they pay ridiculous amounts for their medallion). Most budding Uber drivers will only consider immediate costs when calculating whether they can make a profit from the job. The cost of wear and tear and rapid depreciation of their vehicle is not factoring into their calculations.

  3. Gratuity? by El+Cubano · · Score: 1

    Will the drones expect a gratuity?

  4. They have this new invention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Its called the 'hot bag' and its made for pizza to go inside and be kept warm.

    Delivery bag[edit]
    Bags used to keep pizza hot while being transported are commonly referred to as hotbags[16] or hot bags.[17] Hotbags are thermal bags, typically made of vinyl, nylon, or Cordura, that passively retain heat.[16] Material choice affects cost, durability, and condensation.[16] Heated bags supply added heat through insertion of externally heated disks, electrical heating elements, or pellets heated by induction from electrically generated magnetic waves.[16] Innovations in delivery bag designs have allowed without the usage of a fixed box for bike delivery, such as a hard frame, back straps, and waterproofing. These systems proved to be cheaper, more efficient and faster to use.

    Personally im more worried that a drone will hit someone in the head, get shot down, or even worse...deliver Domino's shitty pizza.

  5. Re:Now all we need... by Znork · · Score: 2

    From what I've read, drones are already an important part of the blow distribution infrastructure.

    As far as hookers go, well, I'll be by the time they're delivered via drone, the drone will actually be the hooker...

  6. Nope, and missing the point by DumbSwede · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know you are going for funny point mods, but the real advantage here to Dominos is that NO gratuity is expected at all. If the price is the same then they will sell far more pizzas as people won't have to worry about tipping enough, or being dressed well enough to greet a stranger at the door, or have the front living room clean enough as said pizza person casually stares past you as you fumble for your wallet. Just talking to a stranger is a task for some socially awkward people. It will be perceived as safer also. No one casing your home as they deliver pizza. When you factor in the energy and gas savings and once it is perfected I bet the per mile cost is 1/10th the amount with a delivery person.

    Yes jobs will be lost. Drudge jobs we as a society shouldn't be expecting people to live by. As for students, their time is better spent studying than trying to pick a few extra bucks, because like it or not, the no skill jobs are going away. Even many skilled jobs are in peril. This will be an awkward 10-50 years as we learn to adapt society to a not-everyone-has-to-work society. Corny as Star Trek's 'we work to better ourselves' slogan is, the only non-dystopian future will have to be this way -- where you are not compensated for the work you provide, but by how well you prove you are constantly learning and helping society as a whole, and yes for same that will be a regular job kind of work, but for most it will be community service and continuing education.

    --
    Letter To Iran
    1. Re:Nope, and missing the point by RichPowers · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You're absolutely correct. Bemoaning the loss of these "jobs" is like fretting that indoor plumbing will put the "night soil" collection crew out of business. Inane busywork is not a particularly lofty goal for any wise civilization.

      Besides, think about how preposterous and decadent pizza delivery is: you pay someone $X/hour to deliver a 1 lb package in a vehicle that weighs ~3000 pounds and is powered by oil, a finite resource that took literally millions of years for nature to create. In Critical Path, Bucky Fuller argued that one gallon of gasoline should really cost $1 million, given the time and energy (solar, geothermal) required to create petroleum [1].

      Entrepreneurship is about discovering and eliminating inefficiencies in the economy's production structure as much as creating or inventing Shiny New Things. In fact, efficiency improvements are paramount if we want to support 7+ billion human beings on this planet.

      [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    2. Re:Nope, and missing the point by ProzacPatient · · Score: 2

      IMO tipping in its current form should be outlawed thereby making restaurant operators pay their help at least the state mandated minimum wage. Sure the cost of going out to eat will rise to make up for it but really you're already paying those prices anyway because of tipping but at least food workers will be earning a consistent living.

      As far as the pizza industry is concerned; they absolutely prey on their help. My mom used to work for Papa John's for several years and then Dominoes for a few years, mostly out of desperation. Both jobs offered absolutely no benefits despite insanely long hours, paid around $3/hr and sometimes something like $.20 per mile traveled when delivering. So people who work in the industry have to get their tips to manage to make any decent money to get by, furthermore since the Great Recession of '08 it's only gotten worse to the point where many pizza joints have a hard time retaining help because they refuse to pay a decent wage and people who order refuse to tip or they actually tip only a few cents. It's also very hazardous work, at least in urban areas, as it is not uncommon to be robbed at gunpoint for pizza if not for money and the major chains prohibit delivery persons from carrying any form of self-defense non-lethal or otherwise. A cop actually told my mom once they he would be terrified to have to deliver pizza for a living on account of how dangerous it is versus being a cop.

    3. Re:Nope, and missing the point by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I'm not really sure what a pizza delivery person does that he/she deserves gratuity for. Because they found their way from the restaurant to your house? In the last restaurant I had with a server, they were able to drive successfully to the restaurant to work their shift but I didn't factor that into their tip.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re:Nope, and missing the point by AchilleTalon · · Score: 2

      Bucky Fuller is an idiot.There is no way a gallon of gasoline could be valued at $1 million. You can sell something only at the price someone is willing to buy it. It has nothing to do with the production costs. However, to make a profit, your production cost must be lower than your selling cost. There is no one to pay for the time and energy it costs to create petroleum, no one can pretend to ask someone to pay that cost.

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    5. Re:Nope, and missing the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A tip isn't for good service anymore, restaurants wanted to save money on labor and expect customers to "voluntarily" make up the difference. Nowadays a tip is what helps prevents your server or delivery driver from adding their own secret special sauce while your food is in transit.

    6. Re:Nope, and missing the point by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Yeah.. I don't order that much pizza.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    7. Re:Nope, and missing the point by Keybounce · · Score: 1

      ... However, to make a profit, your production cost must be lower than your selling cost. There is no one to pay for the time and energy it costs to create petroleum, no one can pretend to ask someone to pay that cost.

      Sure there is.

      You are taking a finite resource that is part of the natural features of the land. While you may "own" the land, that only applies to permission to use the surface for improvement; it does not automatically include taking resources out of the ground.

      Since we already have laws on the books that mandate considering the public and use of the land (it starts with the EPA, which lists something like 13 different specific areas), it is well within reason for the government to say that there is a cost -- a fee, a charge, etc -- to withdraw some resource from the ground for private commercial usage.

      There is very little difference between a fee based on pollution, and the need to clean up the carbon pollution of the oil, and a fee based on the rarity of the oil, and the fact that you are denying the future people an opportunity to make use of the resource.

      And once you've established that the government can impose a fee on taking the oil out of the ground, what restricts the amount of that fee?

  7. They should surprise people by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    Robot knocks on the door. People open it up with surprise. Then the robot says in Dr Sbiatso voice,"Give me your money human." Sleep(3000 milliseconds) "I have your pizza."

    --
    God spoke to me
  8. Re:drone-jacking by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    I'm working on my Drone Highwayman costume right now. I'll be rolling in pizzas in no time.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  9. The REAL reason for the drone delivery... by richrz · · Score: 5, Informative

    This drone program has now generated more PR/advertising than its cost x 100.

  10. Perhaps u missed the cleaning bit of housecleaning by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Now I just need a housecleaning robot who can get the pizza and feed the slices to me. Then I will never need to move again.

    Before a kibitzer responds I missed something, re-read my title.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  11. Re: Flying clothes line... by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    What fucking decade did you get your head stuck up your ass

  12. Re:drone-jacking by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

    Just waiting for something worth stealing to be delivered. Dominos... ugh.

  13. Apartments by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    So if I'm in an apartment building I'm going to have to go down to the entrance of the building to meet the drone instead of ringing in the delivery person to bring the pizza up. How convenient.

  14. Re:Now all we need... by JDeane · · Score: 2

    So like a Transformer hooker bot? Helicopter into sex bot, if she was a triple changer maybe she could mow my lawn too....

  15. Re:Now all we need... by hambone142 · · Score: 1

    Ya got it all wrong. First MJ, then pizza. Finish it off with a hooker.

    Sheesh. Get your sequencing correct.

  16. Re:drone-jacking by JDeane · · Score: 1

    Hey those pizza's are part of a nutritious... LOL I couldn't keep a straight face... rotflmao is it even food?

  17. Declined by thundercattt · · Score: 1

    The day a pizza shows up by robot is when I decline the pizza. These jobs are meant for teens or college kids to make extra money. Looks like I stop ordering from Domino's.

  18. 'Murica, land of simple, elegant solutions... by phozz+bare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "It doesn't add up to deliver a two kilogram package in a two-ton vehicle"... yes, that's why the rest of the world uses motor scooters for pizza deliveries.

    1. Re:'Murica, land of simple, elegant solutions... by phozz+bare · · Score: 1

      If you think American roads are dangerous, all I can say is it's clear you don't travel much.

  19. Re:Now all we need... by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

    So like a Transformer hooker bot? Helicopter into sex bot, if she was a triple changer maybe she could mow my lawn too....

    And after finishing the lawn, it better make a sandwich!

    Wut? Pizza?? ...!! Oh, yeah!

    Never mind! :)

    Strat

    --
    Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
  20. The world is SO F*ING STUPID by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1

    I wonder why it is I even bother.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  21. The real winners here by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Are the seagulls. They already attack drones and now they can claim pizza as their reward when they do. I bet it doesn't require much for a bird to tip a drone and send it crashing to the ground.

    Aside from that it seems like a fundamentally expensive and risk laden application of technology. Is it going to be able to deliver at night, or in heavy rain / wind, or to urban buildings like apartments, or be able to detect wires, poles, trees that surround where most people live? Will pizza places have drone pads out front? Will staff be expected to charge / service these drones, and deal with whatever griefing / damage / vandalism they receive? Heaps of issues that it would be necessary to solve when the problem is already solved.

  22. A question remains by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    I'll send one of the girls to block its path until the 30 minute limit is up, can it read the clock?

  23. Two ton vehicle? by prefec2 · · Score: 1

    What do they use to deliver pizza? A SUV? Here in good old Europe(tm) they use bicycles, ebikes and scooters to deliver pizza. This has the additional advantage that I do not need to run X stairs down to the street, pick up the pizza and get back up to my flat. All that before someone else takes the pizza.

  24. This is going to be awsome for about 10 seconds. by jimbob6 · · Score: 1

    Can you imagine how people are going to react when they see one of these delivery robots rolling down the sidewalk?
    "Hey look! Free pizza!"

  25. A threat to the competition by safetyinnumbers · · Score: 1

    This could mean the end of all those other delivery methods that do away with the inefficient driver/vehicle approach, such as rocket mail

  26. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? by DiEx-15 · · Score: 1

    Maybe the writers of the Terminator series need to reevaluate how Skynet was formed.

    Instead of a virus or a webpage: Skynet started when disgruntled Domino's Pizza bots got sick of hearing customer complaints and crappy tips.

  27. I can't even protest this one! by slasher999 · · Score: 1

    I suppose if I actually ate this garbage I'd stop in order to protest the loss of jobs. At the very least I'd want to know how much less a pizza would me cost now due to the reduced labor costs and make a decision based on that.

  28. Great! by avandesande · · Score: 1

    Rabbit turd meat in a jiffy.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  29. Seven Minutes of Terror by GPS+Pilot · · Score: 1

    You know what else delivers its payload with a tether, then flies away?

    For the answer, watch Seven Minutes of Terror -- the best video ever produced by the U.S. Government.

    --
    That that is is that that that that is not is not.
  30. What about weather? by DirkDaring · · Score: 1

    Will it fly in the rain? Snow? What about winds? Can I order one before a storm is about to hit?

  31. Re:yes it does add up. by DirkDaring · · Score: 1

    I'm sure they will lower the price of the pizzas since they will be saving money, right?

  32. Stating the obvious by LienRag · · Score: 1

    If pornographic movies have taught me something, it's that the pizza is NOT the relevant part of "pizza delivery man"...