Domino's Pizza
DRU: Autonomous Pizza Delivery Robot
2016
Concept + Development
Domino's DRU
Eight weeks, that’s it. 56 days to turn a rough mechanical platform into a friendly delivery robot. When we say D+I is ‘lean and agile’, we mean it. A short turnaround time requires putting the right people in the room; a combination of experience and diversity to develop concepts quickly. Once a direction is chosen, you need trusted experts to deliver something special. DRU was just the sort of project we thrive on.
Hey, good lookin'.
Conveying personality through design was a big part of the brief for DRU — how can you bring the friendly attitude of your trusted Domino’s driver to a robot? When you're designing a world-first there is no benchmark, so we looked to Japanese anime and the work of leading animation studios like Pixar for inspiration. We studied concept cars and how they use elements like headlights to create personality. With Domino’s leading the charge, we knew the expectations for the project would be sky-high. They were looking to awe the world and it was up to our team to make it happen. The presentation of the food was instrumental in achieving this. There had to be an element of surprise, a mechanical solution in line with the overall look of the unit and the ambition of the project.