Starting April 12, some customers who order pizza from Domino's in the Woodland Heights area could meet its newest employee: R2, a robot delivery vehicle. The pizza chain has partnered with the autonomous vehicle company Nuro, which began testing self-driving delivery services in 2019 in a partnership with Kroger.

"We’re excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino’s customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer, in a news release. “There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space. This program will allow us to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations."

To give the robot a test run, select customers who order and pay online can opt to have R2 delivery. Customers can then receive text alerts and follow the robot's GPS location on the order confirmation page. Once the delivery arrives, customers use a provided access code to open the robot's door for their order.

For now, only the Domino's at 3209 Houston Ave., Houston, is participating in the robot pilot.