A few years from now, Koreans may find robots at their doors with their pizza delivery.

Woowa Brothers Corp., creator of the popular food-delivery app Baedal Minjok, said Thursday it will start testing its self-driving delivery robot prototype with an aim to commercialize the robots in two to three years.

Dubbed “Dilly,” a combination of delivery and delicious, the delivery robot is 82.7 cm tall and divided into three compartments. The self-driving robot, jointly developed by the research team led by Professor Chung Woo-jin of Korea University, is equipped with sensors that help identify its location and avoid obstacles. It can speed up to 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) per hour.

Woowa Brothers said the robots would first be tested in indoor settings such as food courts, delivering food to customers and collecting empty trays. They would then be taken to limited outdoor areas such as college campuses and apartment complexes.

After two to three years of pilot testing, the company expects its fleet will be ready for home delivery.

By Lee Duk-joo and Kim Hyo-jin

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