Domino’s to start robo-deliveries in Germany

0

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

  • Automation appears to be the way of the future, and now even the humble pizza delivery driver is under threat


 

The food delivery robots, and drones, are coming. The technology is improving, people seem to be more receptive to the concept than they have ever been before, and increasingly the regulators are becoming the industry’s new cheerleaders.

 

RELATED
Hermeus's first of a kind Chimera engine switches from supersonic to hypersonic

 

Now Domino’s want in on the action, and unlike Amazon and 7-Eleven who are rolling out autonomous drone delivery systems Domino’s thinks their future is six wheeled and travels at 4 miles per hour – which means that even local deliveries could take at least fifteen minutes – and they’ve partnered with Starship Technologies, who’ve also inked deals with DoorDash and Postmates to make it happen.

In 2015 the tech loving pizza company joked about driverless delivery robots, and do you remember their “Domi-No-Driver” campaign? No, me neither, but now they’re serious and they’re going to begin using their new six wheeled robot friends to deliver pizzas in Hamburg, Germany in the next couple of months.

 

 

Capable of carrying a whopping 40lbs of pizza – seriously, who eats that much pizza, don’t answer – the robots will deliver pizzas within a one-mile radius. And with forecasts suggesting that by 2019 logistics firms will be using over 175,000 robots, which kicks even UPS’s huge delivery network of 100,000 vans into the shade the future for robot companies looks rosy – even if the same can’t be said for the people they’ll one day replace.

 

RELATED
Andrew Ng launches LandingLens to democratise AI development for everyone

 

However, and someone has to ask it – what happens when one of these things gets kicked over or turned upside down by a bunch of teenagers, or a mob of angry ex-pizza delivery drivers? Nothing that’s what – cold pizza and a robot that’s going to be spinning its wheels until its battery runs out. Ha ha, silly robot…

About author

Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working between the dates of 2020 to 2070, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series. Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future. A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries. Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *