The drone service that belongs to the “future” has finally begun to be commercialized.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “machine heart” (ID: Almosthuman2014), authored by Synced, Li Zenan.
After obtaining government approval and cooperating with companies such as FedEx and Walgreens, Google’s subsidiary Wing announced on Friday that it will begin delivering courier parcels, over-the-counter drugs, food and other services to residents of the Christiansburg region of Virginia. This is the first commercial drone express service in the United States.
This is an important milestone for the US drone delivery business. Earlier this year, Wing became one of the first drone operators to be certified as a commercial air carrier by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), delivering goods to users within miles.
For us, the first few steps of this new express delivery method are no different from ordinary express delivery.
In the demo video, we can see that customers only need to use the mobile app to select products and click to buy. On the other hand, the warehouse stocking workers need to bag the goods, hang the drones hovering in the air and start shipping. The whole process is simple and fast.
The company said that the way UAVs are delivered helps reduce the number of times cars and trucks carry goods, is more environmentally friendly, and can also alleviate traffic congestion. In addition, drone courier can also be more convenient for users with limited mobility.
Wing promises that their courier service will deliver the goods within minutes of the designated area of Christiansburg and there is no additional charge compared to other forms of courier.
Michael and Kelly Collver became the first two users of the business, and they used drones to express “cold medicine packages,” including Tylenol, cough medicine, make-up paper, Emergen-C, and bottled water.
With dronesWith the advent of the first commercial pilot service, FedEx became the first logistics company in the history of the United States to provide a separate drone delivery service, while American drug seller Walgreens became the first to achieve store-to-customer peer-to-peer A drone service retailer.
Now, users in designated areas can choose to use UAVs to deliver FedEx packages: Hang the UAVs for items to be delivered at the small yard or at the designated location on the roadside. In addition, Wing has also partnered with Sugar Magnolia, a local retailer in Virginia, to achieve the “last mile” courier home business. Through the drone, customers of Sugar Magnolia can purchase small items (light goods such as candy) online, and wait for the courier to fly to the door.
In terms of regulations, Wing implements current services in accordance with the FAA’s new approach to Air Carrier Certificate. The certificate provides clear conditions for expanding the scope of services, in particular allowing Wing’s flying hands to manage the flight of multiple aircraft simultaneously while providing open services, eliminating the need for a large number of human flying hands.
Under the global scale, the drone delivery business is gradually entering the commercialization stage. On Tuesday, US logistics giant United Parcel Service (UPS) announced approval from the federal government for the drone package delivery business.
And at home, on October 15th, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the “Specification for the Approval of Certain Types of UAVs” and the “License for Logistics Distribution of UAVs” to Hangzhou Logistics Logistics Technology Co., Ltd. This is the first “Certificate of License” for the pilot operation of a certain type of urban scene for the UAV. The issuance of this license has also become a milestone in the field of unmanned aviation in China.
According to Zhejiang Daily, during the trial operation, Send Bar Logistics will use the air distribution network to provide medical first-aid supplies and instant delivery services in the city within the scope of Hangzhou. The far-reaching service distance of the point-to-point is currently 20 kilometers. It is estimated that by 2020, the company will initially build an air distribution network throughout Hangzhou, providing 1,000 operating capacity per day.
In addition, the Korean government is also workingThe drone-related control measures were relaxed to extend the scope of drone applications to the public service sector. It is reported that South Korea will formulate specific standards and related equipment standards for drone courier services in 2020 and 2023, respectively, and strive to commercialize drone courier services by 2025.
References:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/18/20921310/wings-delivery-drones-virginia-first-flight
https://medium.com/wing-aviation/wing-launches-americas-first-commercial-drone-delivery-service-to-homes-in-christiansburg-f8e8c3b2bb47