Are pizza delivery robots future or fad?

door. Domino’s says the robot is able to select the best path en route to its destination, with onboard sensors allowing it to see – and avoid – obstacles on the way.

OK. So far so good. But, let’s be honest here, there are questions.

How will DRU navigate the hills of Wellington, the quakecracked streets of Christchurch, or gridlock in Auckland? How will he make it anywhere before the pizza gets cold, with those tiny little wheels?

Will he come equipped with a Taser to defend himself from drunken vandals? How will he ring doorbells, or get up stairs?

Domino’s NZ general manager Scott Bush said the robot had been in development ‘‘for the best part of 12 months’’ as part of the company’s focus on technology and innovation.

Bush said tests in controlled environments on Brisbane streets had gone well, although DRU had required ‘‘a little bit of’’ human control at points.

The company was aware of the risk of theft and vandalism and was looking into security alarms ‘‘and all sorts of funky things’’ to protect against interference, while the robot would be waterproof. With speed an issue and a maximum range of 20 kilometres before recharging was needed, Bush acknowledged the prototype required further development, but said it was ‘‘not a gimmick – it’s reality’’.

‘‘It’s like most things: you look back at the original prototype of anything that ends up being successful, and you think wow, haven’t we come a long away? I don’t doubt that this will be any different.’’

Bush hoped controlled testing of the robot could begin in New Zealand within months, while the company also wanted to build more ‘‘brothers’’ for DRU.

However, it would be at least two to three years before customers could go online and order a pizza delivery via droid.

It was also unlikely that it would lead to the elimination of pizza delivery drivers, as many customers would still want the ‘‘human to human experience’’.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges said Domino’s had made contact ‘‘a few weeks ago’’ to inform the Government about DRU and see if New Zealand was interested in hosting trials.

Bridges said there were ‘‘no particular legal blockages’’ to trialling driverless technology on the country’s roads, but the authorities needed to ensure any trials met safety requirements and other regulations.