Skip to main content

Domino’s Pizza is testing pizza-delivering drones

domicopter-in-action
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Detailed by NBC News recently, Domino’s Pizza hired a creative agency called T + Biscuits to test the feasibility of octocopter drones that deliver a hot, delicious pizza to your doorstep. Heavily branded as the DomiCopter, the current prototype can deliver two, large pizzas in about ten minutes within a four mile radius of the store. While future versions could hypothetically use GPS coordinates to deliver the pie, the existing model is piloted from the ground by someone experienced in drone flight.

domicopter drone delivers pizzaThe DomiCopter has eight spinning blades and includes the standard thermal insulation bag that’s carried around by Domino’s Pizza delivery drivers. Developed by a company called Aerosight, this type of drone is primarily used for capturing broadcast quality video with cameras like the Red Epic , Canon C300 or Sony PMW F3.

No flying permits are needed to operate the drone up to 126 meters off the ground; only permission of the landowner is required. Other tools that can be used with the drone include on-board GPS, air pressure sensors and an electronic compass.

When asked about the feasibility of using the DomiCopter drone, T + Biscuits founder Tom Hatton said “If anything, it went quicker than a pizza boy. We were amazed at how easy it was going to be.” Hatton was referencing the time required to navigate roads as well as stop at red lights. According to Hatton, other names previously batted around for the DomiCopter included the “Pepperdroney” and the “Flyin’ Hawaiian.”

After proving the concept with the first drone flight, the DomiCopter has been delivered to Domino’s UK headquarters for further testing. Ideally, the company wants to test increasing the payload capacity of the drone in order to carry other items like a two-liter bottle of Coke or perhaps more pizzas. Domino’s UK management haven’t announced any plans to roll out a test of drone deliveries at Domino’s pizza locations in the United Kingdom or the United States.

Editors' Recommendations

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
Amazing aerial drone display uses smoke machines and laser projection
collmot drone smoke display laser writing on

Aerial Image Projection using Drone Swarms

It’s a cynical, world-weary time we live in when midair drone displays, in which large numbers of illuminated drones take to the sky like flying pixels to create elaborate patterns, seem like yesterday’s news. But that’s the harsh reality of novelty -- and it’s one that Hungarian drone display company CollMot Entertainment isn’t going to try and fight.

Read more
DARPA tests drones that can be dropped from planes and collected in midair
DARPA Gremlin drone 1

Gremlins X-61A Maiden Test Flight

Whether it’s drones that can be “grown” using chemistry in large-scale labs or dissolving drones designed to fly over enemy lines, there’s no shortage of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) innovation in military research. An ongoing project involving the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) adds one more item to the list. DARPA has been testing a new drone that can be launched from a plane, then later recovered in midair once it’s completed a mission. This is done by having the drone return to the plane and winched back on board via a special line, similar to a midair refueling.

Read more
Drone delivery: Medical supplies will soon be flying around San Diego
A Matternet drone flying in the sky.

Medical facilities are becoming increasingly interested in drone delivery as a way to quickly move important samples and supplies between nearby hospitals and laboratories.

UPS and drone company Matternet is one such partnership that’s exploring the space, with the pair already conducting test deliveries of blood for transfusions and other medical samples between facilities in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Read more