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7-Eleven Beats Google, Amazon To First Commercial Drone Delivery Service In US (phys.org)
schwit1 quotes a report from Phys.Org: U.S. drone delivery service Flirtey on Monday announced that its self-piloting flying machines have whisked flu medicine, hot food and more from 7-Eleven convenience stores to customers' homes. The Nevada-based company boasted of being the first drone service to complete regular commercial deliveries to residences in this country, having completed 77 such autonomous missions. "We have now successfully completed the first month of routine commercial drone deliveries to customer homes in partnership with 7-Eleven," Flirtey chief executive Matthew Sweeny said in a release. "This is a giant leap towards a future where everyone can experience the convenience of Flirtey's instant store-to-door drone delivery." Flirtey said it made 77 drone deliveries to homes of select customers on weekends in November, filling orders placed using a special application.Ordered items, including food and over-the-counter medicine, were packed into special containers and flow by drones that used GPS capabilities to find addresses, according to Flirtey. Drones hovered in the air and lowered packages to the ground, on average getting items to customers within 10 minutes, the company reported.
U.S. drone delivery service Flirtey on Monday announced that its self-piloting flying machines have whisked flu medicine, hot food and more from 7-Eleven convenience stores to customers' homes.
I've never be able to buy anything that can be called food at 7/11. So I don't believe it.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Once they drop the delivery to the customer, do they say in a cheerful voice "Thank you, call again!"?
Just looking outside my house (Toronto, Canada), there are power & telephone lines and fairly high/mature trees. Not to mention, fairly volatile weather - ie it's snowing right now, just the kind of weather I would like a CARE package from 7-11 from if I didn't have to go out to get it.
It would be a significant challenge for a drone to be able to find a reasonable place to lower a package using it's own capabilities - trees and electrical lines randomly cover properties including driveways and backyards.
I haven't been to Reno in about 20 years and, it wasn't to spend time in the 'burbs, so could anybody comment on how appropriate the properties/landscape are for drone deliveries?
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That being said, the recipient getting regular food deliveries from 7-Eleven will be dead soon. Amen.
We've been doing this since 2010, so what? All I ever saw about it was an article in the local paper.
Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
7-Eleven? This sounds like it was out of a Homer Simpson episode... (Quickie Mart of course)
I think stores like 7-11 make a far more realistic starting point for commercial drone delivery.
That's because there are stores all over that are in short range of many people, that would probably gladly welcome drone delivery of small items - like a cup of coffee or a Big Gulp or a burrito.
Amazon has a lot of warehouses around but they have a lot wider range in terms of item size and weight they may be delivering, and although they do have a lot of distribution warehouses they simply will never cover a city the way a 7-11 or a Starbucks already does.
The dark horse I see here though, don't laugh - donut delivery. I am not even joking.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
DAT GOTTA HURT!
Bedzore and der Schmidity will be masturbating till they spurt blood!
Ouch!
So now when 7-11 things come from the sky, we really can say "oh thank heaven for 7-11".
As noted in the FAA Summary of UAS Rule ( https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/... ), most of the requirements can be waived if the operator shows that the intended flight can be done safely, with the waiver specifying compensating conditions.
More information on waiver can be found here:
https://www.faa.gov/uas/beyond...
The complete text of the rule can be found here:
https://www.federalregister.go...
PS there's an entirely different set of rules for larger drones (see Section 333). Flirtey, the company working with 7-11, has filed for exemptions under Section 333, such as this one filed in July:
https://www.federalregister.go...
Most stories on slashdot are either AAA company public relations, or drone deliveries. Get a clue, BeauHD. Bring back CmdrTaco!
But what is going to happen to all those people that stand outside the doors asking for money? They can't ask the drones now...
I wonder, in the end, which will win out: flying drones going from a warehouse to a retail shopper's domicile, or self-driving delivery trucks (eventually manned by unloading robots that can carry your package to your door)?
Sure, they could be combined, with trucks loaded with package-bearing drones that take off from the truck as it nears the package's destination. I wonder how the time/fuel efficiency works out, with the different ways of doing that. I imagine companies are doing simulations on that already. Prediction: direct drone delivery is most efficient for customers within X miles of a distribution center, truck is most efficient in rural areas, drone-laden truck most efficient in suburbs/cities outside of direct drone range.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Since nobody else is saying it, contratulations 7-11!! I, for one, welcome our convenient new overlords!
I take it that their drone delivery service will only operate between 7:00 am and 11:00 pm?
How ironic that a name like that would signify a convenience store chain with "expanded hours of service." It's a relic of the early seventies.
PS there's an entirely different set of rules for larger drones (see Section 333). Flirtey, the company working with 7-11, has filed for exemptions under Section 333, such as this one filed in July:
https://www.federalregister.go...
Also, they are probably working in a FAA test range.
I thought for sure it would be a flight from Hefty Mart.
Regarding power and telephone lines, most newer neighborhoods in the US have them underground. Not all neighborhoods, of course, but many. The Reno code requires underground utilities in new developments:
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All new or relocated utility distribution and service facilities, including communication and cable television, shall be placed underground except surface mounted transformers located in conformance to applicable setbacks
--
https://www.municode.com/libra...
While company owned delivery drones like these are nice and all. I want my own drone I can send to variety of stores to pick up packages I order instead of being tied to one company and have charged me a delivery fee. .
Sadly this probaby won't work for "long tail" stuff like electronic components at first, which is where it would be most valuable. Running out of a component can stall a project for days...
Well it'll work pretty well if the part you need happens to be part of a drone that you can summon for the price of a cup of coffee... ;-)
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
333 exemptions were what were given out before 107 came into play. Under 107, there is no possible way to currently do cargo delivery beyond line of sight with a drone - they've also been probably working on this for a while, which is probably why they are using the 333.
> 333 exemptions were what were given out before 107 came into play. Under 107, there is no possible way to
Actually 107 came out in June, BEFORE the exemption I linked to was filed.
You can still fly under 333, following the 333 rules (with exemptions) OR under 107. 107 has a limit of 55 pounds, including payload. If the craft + payload is over 55 pounds, 107 isn't an option; 333 is the most likely part you'd fly under.
Here's the first sentence of the FAA Fact Sheet on 107 for you:
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The new rules for non-hobbyist small unmanned aircraft (UAS) operations â" Part 107 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (PDF) â" cover a broad spectrum of commercial uses for drones weighing less than 55 pounds.
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That's why the subject line of tyre post you replied to is "ps Larger drones".