Review of world experience of commercial delivery of goods using unmanned vehicles



The idea of ​​using UAVs for commercial cargo delivery has long been in the air. Despite the existing administrative barriers, enthusiasts and corporations are investing millions of dollars in the development of this area, and this is paying off.

If a couple of years ago, the only bonus from the development of such projects was PR on the Internet, where videos with the latest “world's first drone delivery” gained millions of views, now serious projects with real works have started to appear.

In this article we will review the most interesting cases of the use of UAVs, and more specifically, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), for the delivery of goods for commercial purposes.

Amazon. Prime Air Order Delivery Service


Company Amazon's , the largest online retailer in December 2013 announced its fastest method of delivery of purchases - Amazon's Prime Air . With this service, purchases made at the Amazon online store will be delivered to customers within 30 minutes, which is 4 times faster than the current fastest delivery method of Amazon Prime Now . So much acceleration is planned to achieve through the use of drones.

It is assumed that everything will work quite simply. The buyer makes an online order and specifies Prime Air as the delivery method. In the logistics center of the company, the product selected by the client is loaded onto the drone. Then the UAV flies to the specified address, lands, conducts unloading of goods and flies away. After that, the client takes the packaging of the goods from the ground.



In December 2016, the company conducted the first test delivery using Prime Air.

Someone Richard B., who lives in Cambridgeshire , England, ordered Amazon Fire TV and dog food. Order weight was 2.1 kg. Drone flyingorder of several miles, delivered the purchase within 13 minutes. Flight drone control from take-off to landing was conducted in automatic mode. People served only as a controller. The placement of cargo in the drone before take-off was also carried out automatically.

In the project, besides the previously presented drone , two more devices were used. The first was seen in a commercial with Jeremy Clarkson.



And the second was noted in the video about the first delivery.



But the main technical highlight of the project is the idea of using balloons as logistics centers for storing cargoes and launching UAVs.


In addition to the development of drones, the company formulated a concept ( hereand here ) the separation of airspace between manned aircraft and drones.

To ensure safety, Amazon proposes to limit the maximum altitude of drones to 400 feet (~ 122 meters), which is 100 feet (~ 30 meters) less than the minimum altitude of civil aviation flights.



The company also notes that delivery using a UAV can only truly be revealed when using the automatic flight control system of drones, in which a person would only perform the role of a controller and could simultaneously serve several drones.

At the time of this writing, Prime Air was in the testing phase.

Video about the project
Анонс доставки Amazon Prime Air, 1 дек. 2013 г.

Интернет-кинотеатр Netflix тролит проекты по использованию дронов, 14 фев. 2014 г.

Реклама Amazon Prime Air с Джереми Кларксоном, 29 дек. 2015 г.

Первая доставка Amazon Prime Air, 14 дек. 2016 г.


Google. Project Wings


In 2012, Alphabet Corporation (the parent company of Google), or rather its “X” division , which is engaged in innovative developments, began to work on the delivery of goods by drones, and two years later, in August 2014, the Wings project was announced . Wings is a research project aimed at developing an automated UAV and infrastructure for its use. Unlike Amazon, which develops drones for itself, Google has sought to create a delivery service that will be in demand by other companies. The project demonstrated several types of drones, moreover, built according to different aerodynamic schemes.







The first type of UAV - built according to the scheme of a flying wing with vertical take-off and landing ( tailsiter ). When located on the ground, the device is in an upright position and "sits on the tail." After takeoff, the device takes a horizontal position and flies like a normal plane.



Unloading occurs by lowering the load on the cable, while the apparatus freezes in the air. As soon as the cargo is on the ground, the cable is unhooked from it and drawn into the UAV.



After several months of testing, this design was considered unsuccessful , and it was replaced with a new one, where separate engines operating in the horizontal and vertical planes are used.



After the first public demonstrationIn 2014, the project was looking for a real application. At first there were negotiations on the delivery of medical supplies, and then on the delivery of food and beverages, but, unfortunately, not a single project has reached the productive phase.

In November 2016 came the information that Project Wings moved to the stage of freezing, and part of his staff asked to look for a new job.

The main reason for the failure of the project, according to Bloomberg , are administrative restrictions on the commercial transportation of cargo by UAVs.

Video about the project
Первый анонс проекта Google Wings, Introducing Project Wing, 28 авг. 2014 г.

Второй анонс проекта Google Wings, Introducing Project Wing, 18 апр. 2016 г.


DHL. Using drones to deliver packages


DHL , one of the largest logistics companies in the world, has a strong interest in using UAVs for cargo delivery.

The company conducted its first flight tests in 2013 in the city of Bonn, Germany. During the experiment, the UAV, which the company calls “Parcelcopter” (loosely translated into Russian means “parcel”), transported the parcels over the Rhine River for a week, and it looked like this: on the same bank there was a starting point where the drone was attached cargo, and there was an operator controlling the flight.



On the other side, near the headquarters of DHL, was the point of discharge of cargo. The drone took off on the same bank, flew over the river, dumped the cargo and came back. The distance between the points was about 1 kilometer.



The following flight tests were conducted one year after the first in the fall of 2014. For 3 months, the drones transported medicines and basic necessities from the city of Norddeich, Germany, to the island of Just, Germany. The flight route lay over the North Sea and had a length of 12 km.



For flights, DHL received official permission from the aviation authorities, and the flight zone itself was closed to civil aviation.

The general scheme of the experiment was as follows: the doctors from the island of Juist placed an order for medicines. After that, the drugs were delivered to the launch point of the UAV on the north coast of Norddeich. The drone took off with a load and automatically flew to the island where it landed. The drugs were unloaded from the drone and the DHL employee delivered them to the customer.



From January to March 2016, DHL conducted the next test phase of drones. This time the Bavarian Alps, Germany were chosen as the flight zone. Delivery was carried out between the commune of Reit im Winkl, located in the valley, and the mountain settlement located on the Vinklmozalm plateau. The distance between them was 8.3 km., And the height difference was 500 meters.



During tests, hybrids of an automated postal station and an airport for drones - DHL Packstation with SkyPort (hereinafter - Skyport) were installed in the commune and mountain village .



When a resident of a mountain village ordered some goods from the online store, he was first delivered to Skyport, located in a commune, and then the drones were transported to Skyport, located on a mountain plateau, from which the buyer had already taken it. In a similar way, about 130 parcels were delivered during the experiment.

At the time of this writing, the delivery service using the UAV in a productive mode has not yet emerged.

Video about the project
Первые испытания DHL Parcelcopter. Видео DHL, 9 дек. 2013 г.

Первые испытания DHL Parcelcopter. Видео Microdrones, 9 дек. 2013 г.
microdrone md4-1000 DHL parcel copter transports medicine across river

Использование DHL Parcelcopter 2.0 для доставки медикаментов на остров Йюст, DHL, 20 окт. 2014 г.

Использование DHL Parcelcopter 2.0 для доставки медикаментов на остров Йюст, Microdrones, 24 сент. 2014 г.

DHL parcelcopter launches initial operations for research purposes, 25 сент. 2014 г.

DHL to Deliver Medicine via Drone.WSJ, 25 сент. 2014 г.

Осуществление доставки с помощью DHL Parcelcopter 3.0, 9 мая 2016 г.

Эволюция DHL Parcelcopter, 9 мая 2016 г.


Zipline. Delivery of medicines and blood samples


In 2016, the Californian company Zipline, in agreement with the government of the African state of Rwanda, began shipping blood and medicine with the help of UAVs.

The process is organized as follows: a doctor of a clinic in need of an urgent blood supply sends an application via SMS to a special logistic center. After receiving the application, the center employees load the drone into the drone and launch it. The project uses aircraft-type UAVs, and takeoff is carried out using a catapult.



Reaching the destination, the drone drops the package with a cargo on a parachute and flies back to the logistics center. The employee of the clinic that ordered the delivery picks up the parcel from the ground.



Upon returning, the drone lands on a special aero-finisher.



One logistics center is able to serve clinics within a radius of 70 km. The use of a catapult and arresting vehicle frees the project from the need to equip the runway and use the wheels on the UAV for landing.

The most important feature of the project is that it operates in a productive mode and is fully coordinated with the Government of Rwanda. Moreover, it even pays for flights.

The successful experience of using UAVs obtained in Rwanda is planned to be transferred to Tanzania and the USA .

Video about the project


Matternet. Delivery of medical supplies and cooperation with Mercedes-Benz


Californian company Matternet made its debut on the use of drones in 2012, simulating the delivery of medicines to a refugee camp in Haiti.



For this, a quadrocopter with a cargo compartment attached to it was used. The device periodically flew to the camp and brought there small parcels containing medicines and basic necessities.



Based on the data obtained during these tests, the head of the company, Andreas Raptopoulos, stated that the cost of delivering a cargo weighing 2 kg to a distance of 10 km is 24 cents.

In 2016, the company participated in a project to deliver blood samples to detect HIV / AIDS among residents of remote villages inRepublic of Malawi , East Africa. In this project, the company used a new drone model, where the cargo was located in the center of the quadcopter.



Another important event in the life of the company was the cooperation with the auto giant Mercedes-Benz, announced in 2016, to develop a new type of commercial minibus - Vision Van, which can be called an “aircraft carrier”. This minibus is equipped with a cargo hold and drones for cargo delivery.

It is assumed that the minibus will transport goods with drones over long distances, and the drones will deliver the goods directly to customers at the moment when the minibus makes a stop nearby.



At the time of writing, none of the company's projects for the delivery of goods using UAVs were also not in productive mode.

Video about the project
Andreas Raptopoulos: No roads? There's a drone for that, TED, 21 нояб. 2013 г.

Fully Autonomous Electric Flying Vehicle by Matternet, Inc., 20 нояб. 2015 г.

Malawi uses drones to speed-up HIV diagnosis, 16 мар. 2016 г.

Mercedes-Benz Van of the Future, 7 сент. 2016 г.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Van concept, 8 сент. 2016 г.

Mercedes-Benz Teams Up With Drone Startup Matternet, Bloomberg, 19 дек. 2016 г.


UPS. Post-mobile aircraft carrier


In February 2017, the postal giant UPS announced a field test of the postal van and part-time aerodrome for drones.



The concept of using the machine is the same as in the project Matternet and Mercedes-Benz. A van with packages arrives at the village, and then the drones carry the parcels home. It is believed that this approach can speed up customer service and ease the work of the van driver.


At the time of this writing, this project was in test mode.

Video about the project
UPS tests residential drone delivery, 21 февр. 2017 г.


Russian startup Kopter-Express. Delivery of "Before the Pizza" and Yota SIM cards


In June 2014, in the city of Syktyvkar, the DoDo Pizza company, together with the Russian startup Kopter Express , delivered pizza delivery by drones .



As customers were the usual residents of the city, walking in crowded places. A representative of the company (an active seller) approached them and offered to order pizza, which the drone would deliver to them through the air. It was interesting to people, they placed orders, after which the drone flew to them for 15 minutes and lowered the pizza on a rope. The representative took the pizza off the cable, handed it over to the buyer and made a cash settlement with it.

It is noteworthy that a week after the startthe company’s works were threatened with a fine, and the head of Kopter Express was fined 50,000 rubles, although the fine was then canceled in court.

In September 2015, the mobile operator Yota, in partnership with Kopter-Express , delivered its SIM cards using drones.

For this , promotional booths were installed in four Moscow parks , to which the drone flew. The girl seller took the SIM card off the drone and gave it to the customer.



In August 2016, another pizza delivery campaign was carried out using drones, but this time in Samara.

At the time of this writing, the company's projects for the transportation of goods by drones are in the testing phase.

Video about the project
Додо Пицца. Как мы доставляли пиццу дронами, 2 июл. 2014 г.

Коптер Экспресс презентация на Drone Expo Show 2016, 22 авг. 2016 г.

Доставка автономным дроном в Самаре, 20 сент. 2016 г.


Domino's Pizza. Pizza Delivery Projects


Domino's Pizza international pizzeria 's network of pizza delivery drone projects are impressive in their depth and diversity.

So in June 2013, the company introduced a conceptual model for delivering pizza using a DomiCopter UAV.



In March 2016, the company demonstrated the concept of a wheeled drone for delivering pizza.



In August 2016 it became known about the company 's plans to make test deliveries of pizza with flying drones in New Zealand.

At the time of this writing, all projects of the company were in the testing phase.

Video about the project
Introducing the Domino's DomiCopter!, 3 июн. 2013 г.

Introducing DRU, 17 мар. 2016 г.


Francesco's Pizzeria. Pizza delivery


In May 2014, Indian pizzeria Francesco's Pizzeria published a video with commercial pizza delivery to customers.



Then it turned out that it was just a PR move.

Video about the project
Can a pizza be delivered by a robot? #DroneDeliversPizza, 19 мая 2014 г.


Lakemaid Beer. Beer delivery


In January 2014, the American brewery Lakemaid Beer delivered beer using UAVs to lovers of winter fishing on the frozen Lake Waconia , Minnesota, USA.



According to this fact, as usual, an advertising video was shot , after the viral distribution of which the conduct of flights was prohibited by the American aviation regulator.

It is noteworthy that the project used a heavy-duty multi-rotor capable of transferring a box of beer at a time. Although, based on a detailed study of the video, skeptics believe that the box was empty, and the video staged.

Video about the project
Lakemaid Beer Drone Delivery, 24 янв. 2014 г.


findings


We live in a moment when we can see the beginning of a new round of technical progress. A dozen years later, the rhythmic hum of drones outside the window, flying back and forth, carrying all sorts of rubbish will be added to the beeps of cars on the road. The precedent has already been created, drones are already being used for commercial cargo delivery.

But before this good or bad future comes, many challenges have to be solved.
The most important of which is to find a balance of interests of all parties to which the use of UAVs can influence in one way or another. To be clear, I will give an example of such interests. Business for its development requires new forms of cargo delivery, citizens need drones not to threaten their lives, the state needs to maintain state secrets, etc. Only if this balance is maintained, can a fair system of legislative regulation of the use of UAVs be built.

Legislation is the last barrier before using drones. In terms of technology, they are ready.

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