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UPS Develops 'Rolling Warehouse' System In Which Drones Are Launched From Atop Trucks (bloomberg.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the residential-delivery-service dept.

mi writes: A Bloomberg article describes a test conducted by UPS on Monday, "launching an unmanned aerial vehicle from the roof of a UPS truck about a quarter-mile to a blueberry farm outside Tampa, Florida. The drone dropped off a package at a home on the property, and returned to the truck, which had moved about 2,000 feet." The company is looking to design a "rolling warehouse" system in which a drone is "deployed from the roof of a UPS truck and flies at an altitude of 200 feet to the destination." It returns after dropping off the package while the truck is already on its way to the next stop.

3 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Prior Art on Slashdot by mi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The company is looking to design a "rolling warehouse" system in which a drone is "deployed from the roof of a UPS truck and flies at an altitude of 200 feet to the destination." It returns after dropping off the package while the truck is already on its way to the next stop.

    We discussed just such a system here on Slashdot about 4 years ago... If anything, that discussion should allow other players to implement their own without fear of stepping on UPS' patent(s).

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  2. Re:Great! by turp182 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My problem is not the driver's stealing stuff, but other people in my urban neighborhood.

    If a drone could drop a package my in my fenced back yard that would be fan-freaking-tastic. Of course it would have to navigate over my 3 story row house with two massive trees in the yard, that's not happening anytime soon...

    --
    BlameBillCosby.com
  3. I'm not sure who is going to like this better... by burhop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... the UPS driver than gets to try to drop boxes on my barking dog or my dog that might catch his first drone.

    Really, if they start doing this in my neighborhood, I'll be ordering a dog bone a day on Amazon.