International pizza delivery franchise Domino’s has unveiled a new automated delivery robot through a viral YouTube video. The so-called Domino’s Robotic Unit is a four wheeled battery powered robot that has been developed in Australia. It can travel at speeds of up to 20km/h and has a number of sensors to avoid collisions as it navigates its way through the streets.

In addition, and an improvement on car and motorcycle delivery systems, it has a pizza warmer in its payload bay that will hold up to 10 pizzas that will ensure its hot food is delivered at the temperature its customers demand – and not lukewarm when it has a particularly busy night…

Domino’s Australia published the video on its YouTube channel on the 18th March. It was professionally made but may well be tongue in cheek, and the company stated in the video that delivery drivers won’t be losing their jobs in the near future: “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.”

The video described the DRU as the ‘world’s first autonomous delivery vehicle’, something that sadly isn’t true. An autonomous delivery vehicle began testing in London’s Greenwich earlier this month that was funded by the founders of Skype and operated by Starship Technology. This will have a payload of 20kg and is if anything more likely to ply our city streets long before airborne drones start buzzing about!

The video of the new pizza delivery vehicle can be seen on YouTube here