Slashdot Mirror
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.
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...