Ford has extended trial of its self-driving cars to the delivery of pizzas in the United States.
Already, Ford self-driving cars in collaboration with Domino are on the streets of Miami and Miami Beach delivering pizzas, and more cities are to follow.
The company explained on Wednesday that randomly selected customers are offered the chance to have their pizzas delivered by one of the cars, and if they choose to participate they’ll receive text-message instructions as the car approaches on how to retrieve their pizza pie.
Under the arrangement, a unique code will unlock the storage compartment, which is heated so that the pizza stays warm.
One caveat is that the pizza is no longer brought to your door. Someone has to go out and fetch it. However, Ford sees the customer benefiting from no longer having to tip the delivery person.
According to the foremost auto firm,the pizza delivery service is already up and running. Ford is finalizing plans to launch a similar service with on-demand delivery service.
An engineer is still behind the wheel at all times to monitor progress and take over in case of an emergency, as Ford is still developing its self-driving technology, which the automaker hopes to have ready for a purpose-built self-driving car devoid of a steering wheel and pedals launching in 2021.
Ford is developing the self-driving technology with Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in robotics, computer science, and artificial intelligence.
Wow, awesome invention.