Domino's 'DomiCopter' drone can deliver two large pepperonis

Nidhi Subbaraman, NBC News

4 hours ago

On a lunch break last month, a small custom-built octacopter made a 10-minute flight through the city of Guildford, outside of London. Its special cargo: two large pepperoni pizzas.

The delivery was masterminded by a T + Biscuits, an English creative agency that was hired by Domino's to test prototypes.

"We're looking at making flying pizzas a possibility," Tom Hatton, Master Brewer and founder of T + Biscuits, told NBC News.

A pizza delivering drone smells deliciously similar to the fabled TacoCopter — a taco delivery app which, to the Internet's disappointment, ended up being just a concept design — but Hatton insists the "DomiCopter" is the real deal. "We're serious about it," he said.

Still, don't hold your breath for a local copter-powered delivery system coming anytime soon. The daily business of T + Biscuits has more to do with mobile apps than logistics and safety regulations, and while the video certainly demonstrates that the pizzas did fly, the firm and its client likely did it more for publicity than for revolutionizing the delivery game, at least for now.

The agency hired custom drone makers in the U.K. and tested a few prototypes until they found the best. "Domino's said: 'Right, that's the one. Let's make a video and get it out there,'" Hatton said.

On delivery day, two large, hot, pepperoni pizzas were boxed, stacked and stashed in a thermally insulated bag. The team hoisted the package not onto the scooter rack belonging to a pizza delivery boy but aboard the hexacopter. Operated by a experienced drone pilot, it travelled about 4 miles in about ten minutes.

Video at LINK

I miss the old days when innovation usually meant ideas that were useful and groundbreaking. This is just plain stupid.