Domino’s is famously known as the tech company that delivers pizza, and its latest innovation will feature driverless pizza delivery.

The pizza chain has announced a partnership with Nuro, a robotics company founded by two former Google engineers, for a pilot program of self-driving cars delivering pizza throughout Houston, Texas this fall.

Invented in 2016, the electric self-driving cars are halved versions of typical cars. They lack seats, steering wheels, or any room for a person. This design is intentional; these cars were created for food delivery only. These little cars can reach up to 25 mph on busy roadways and have been successfully delivering groceries in Houston since this past March.

Related: Pizza Hut Testing Delivery Truck Outfitted with Pizza Making Robots

“We are always looking for new ways to innovate and evolve the delivery experience for our customers,” said Kevin Vasconi, Domino’s executive vice president. “Nuro’s vehicles are specially designed to optimize the food delivery experience, which makes them a valuable partner in our autonomous vehicle journey. The opportunity to bring our customers the choice of unmanned delivery experience, and our operators an additional delivery solution during a busy store rush, is an important part of our autonomous vehicle testing.”

The partnership will begin at a select number of participating stores. Customers in Houston will be able to track these vehicles via the Domino’s app which will also provide them with a unique PIN code to unlock the vehicle to get their pizza.

“We are excited to expand our autonomous delivery service in Houston with Domino’s delivery,” said Cosimo Leipold, Nuro’s head of partner relations. “Domino’s delivers millions of pizzas around the world every day, and the company shares our passion for focusing on the customer experience. We see incredible opportunity in offering Nuro’s world-class autonomous technology to Domino’s customers, accelerating our shared mission to transform local commerce.”

 

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