Recently listed as the 10th most congested city in the world, Ford has chosen Miami as the testing ground for their autonomous fleet of cars. And they’re bringing pizza.
The motor company’s autonomous test cars have already began hitting the streets. The plan is for their research and interaction with local residents to help inform the design of a purpose-built self-driving vehicle that Ford plans to launch in 2021.
But they’re not doing it alone. Ford are particularly interested in autonomous delivery services, and have partnered with both Dominos and Postmates (an on demand delivery service for just about anything) to conduct pilot programs.
“The development of self-driving vehicles hints at a whole new way of moving people and goods. We’re looking forward to connecting with the people of Miami-Dade County and becoming part of their community as we increase awareness for our efforts and build a service they can confidently rely on day in and day out,” said Sherif Marakby, Ford Vice President of Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification.
The company are hoping to discover how employees will send deliveries on their way, how customers will interact with autonomous delivery vehicles and the overall benefits of the self driving delivery experience.
Pizza delivery testing is already well under way, and you can watch some of the footage of it below. Some of the things that seem to be getting tested are customer identification methods (such as entering the last 4 digits of your phone number) and delivery release via a rear window.
The video also touches on the potential ride sharing capabilities of the future self-driving fleet.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2017/03/soon-dominos-will-deliver-your-pizzas-anywhere/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/dominos_anywhere-410×231.jpg” title=”Soon, Domino’s Will Deliver Your Pizzas *Anywhere*” excerpt=”Today, Domino’s – which calls itself a technology company, not a pizza company – has two announcements. One is a little bit silly, but the other one is just about the best thing ever in the existence of humanity.”]