Last Mile Delivery by Drone
Drone — is one of the successful ways to deliver the last mile delivery, in 2019 the first orders were delivered in Australia
There are many types of deliveries in the world with different terms, but today there is a problem facing by supply companies, solving problems with the delivery of the last mile over short distances.
If you look at technological progress, then you can realize delivery using the drones are in the first place today. If 3 years ago, the delivery of drone was not regulated by laws and there were few experiments conducted, today this problem has been solved in several countries.
In this article, we will consider the future delivery of drone and what types of deliveries are carried out with the help of a drone.
Regulation of last mile delivery with drone
“The very first attempts to use the drone for delivery service were made back in 2012. Early prototypes of food delivery drones were demonstrated by the Star Simpson’s “Tacocopter”, the concept was taco delivery using a smartphone app to order tacos with the delivery of drones in the San Francisco area. ”
A similar concept called the Burrito Bomber was tested in 2012. In the same year, the student project of “Free University of Berlin” explored the use of UAVs for delivering pizza.
In 2013, as part of the advertising campaign, the independent Domino franchise from the United Kingdom conducted a test of Domicopter. Such flights were conducted in India and Russia but did not receive the approval of the regulatory authorities.
Today, many countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates allow the use of drones, if drones are necessary for commercial purposes, you can get permission from the aviation authorities of countries.
In the photo, there are colorful flags that carry information about where the use of the drone is allowed and under what conditions.
To fly a drone in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China or Switzerland (marked in green), you need to register the drone with civil aviation authorities.
Similarly, for flying drones in countries such as Belgium, Brazil, Chile or Germany (marked in yellow), you should follow some guidelines for which you can refer to the map.
In countries such as Antarctica, Nigeria, Kenya or Cuba (marked in red), flying drones for entertainment purposes is widely prohibited.
In countries such as Azerbaijan, Burundi or the Republic of the Congo (marked in gray) there is no data.
Of course, each country has restrictions on the specification of drones, and you need to be careful with this, say if your drone is heavier than a certain kg, it has a recording device for video or audio and also has a function to deliver things. To use a more functional drone, you need to have special dispensations. Because the size of the fine use of the drone is very high resolution.
Google, Amazon, DHL and other companies have launched drone delivery
Amazon. In January 2019, Amazon announced the Amazon Scout delivery system. Amazon decided to use drones to speed up delivery to save time. Amazon’s goal is to deliver packages to customers within 30 minutes. Amazon drones are fully computer controlled and have access to GPS to deliver objects. Amazon started discussing this topic in 2013, and they tested it, but are still working to demonstrate safe operation.
Zipline. By February 2019, Zipline International delivered more than 10,000 parcels to Rwanda. The company currently operates two distribution centers (one in Mukhang and the other in Kayonze, east of Rwanda), where they plan to switch to the provision of essential emergency medicines throughout the country.
DHL. At the beginning of 2019, DHL used the wing copter drone, fringed Sky drone FPV 2, to deliver medicine in East Africa.
Google. Wing, one of the many companies belonging to the technology giant Google, has agreed to officially launch a drone delivery service. For the past year and a half, the company has been making trial deliveries to the drone without any errors. Wing Aviation, a subsidiary of the parent company of Google Alphabet Inc., received the FAA regulatory exemptions on March 28, required to enable the certification of small air carriers for Wing.
Meanwhile, the Wing movement in the commercial space is gaining speed. On April 8, she launched her first commercial delivery service in North Canberra, Australia. Customers can order fresh food, hot coffee, and OTC drugs and deliver them directly to their home drone in minutes. The company plans to launch a similar service in Helsinki, Finland, somewhere this spring, according to its website.
In summary, what do we have today?
Drone, in spite of strict regulations by the state, in 2019 received the first victory. In Australia, Google already delivers using drones. In China, in several cities, as early as half a year, on the basis of the experiment, they deliver cargo to hard-to-reach areas.
And apparently, this is only the first step at the beginning of the path, the use of the drone.
For businesses, profitability is powerful and for people where saving time can be life-saving.
For example, when delivering blood and medicine, the benefits are obvious. Consumers will also benefit when the delivery of UAVs becomes more common — from saving time and costs for home delivery to reducing auto emissions and improving air quality.
And let’s not forget that a drone can deliver your pizza, in the rain or over hills and valleys in suboptimal conditions, and you still do not have to tip the driver.
