UPS has started to test package-delivering drones, the Associated Press reported today.
The package delivery company has teamed up with CyPhy Works, a Massachusetts-based robotics company. They flew drones from the town of Marblehead, Mass. to Children’s Island, three miles away across the Atlantic Ocean. The test, on which the drone flew a pre-programmed course, was considered a success and contributes to UPS’s investigations into the feasibility of drone delivery.
The proprietary drone goes by the name Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance and Communications (PARC) system, which is battery-powered and does not require human input after it’s set out on its preprogrammed course. Its durability and “night vision” were designed to be able to function in difficult conditions, including hard-to-reach locations like the island.
“We think drones offer a great solution to deliver to hard-to-reach locations in urgent situations where other modes of transportation are not readily available,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability, in a press release from CyPhy.
“Drone technology used in this way can save lives and deliver products and services to places that are difficult to reach by traditional transit infrastructures,” said CyPhy CTO and founder Helen Greiner.
Chipotle and Amazon have also tested delivery by drone, while Wal-Mart works on using drones for management inventory. Drones are being used behind the scenes of postal services too. Post NL, a delivery and online retail logistics service which operates in the United Kingdom and several European countries, recently rolled out a pilot project for a drone-managed warehouse.
Those drones, built by Unmanned Life and using autonomous sytems managed by Prime Competence through a cloud-based SaaS platform, will sort and transport packages, removing the need for both conveyor belts and drone pilots.
