Drone delivery may become more common

Thanks to new tech, even Popsicles arrive before melting

By: Jennifer Jolly
Special to USA Today

..... Drone delivers might sound like the high-flying hype of big tech from years past. After all, it's been more than a decade since former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos famously over-promised and under-delivered a flock of high-speed delivery drones dropping off Prime purchases in a Jetsons-like whir of efficiency.
..... According to three of the largest drone delivery companies in the U.S., DroneUP, Zipline, and Wing, it's not a matter of if, but when, drone deliveries reach skies near you. Tens of thousands of people form lunchtime goodies and quick replacement light bulbs to vaccines and prescriptions via drone. And recent Federal Aviation Administration clearance are already propelling the industry forward.
..... "Right now, today, we reach about 4 million people in seven states in America," DroneUp CEO Tom Walker toils me when I moderated a SXSW panel discussion last month. [03/2024] " That's about to go up dramatically."
..... Cyndi Sanders is one of the people already using drone delivery. The Rogers, Arkansas, mom of two says Droneup has made more than 100 deliveries to her doorstep since it started at her local Walmart in November 2022.
..... "It's so convenient," she said. "we're ordered everything, including Popsicles, and they're still frozen when they get here. It's an amazing service. They've saved the day on dinner, and it;s shut a great way to get what we need in a really cool way."
..... She believes that such a service will only grow. I think the future is in the skies,: she said. "I really do."
..... Sarah Claytor, 42, of pea Ridge Arkansas, says she can't imagine going without drone deliveries.
..... "The thing that makes me love it the most is that I can get medicine sent to me directly whenever I have a sick child at home," she said. "I think if we ever moved, I wouldn't be able to live without it."

DroneUp teams with big retailers

..... DroneUp just unveiled "the world's first fully automated, end-to-end drone delivery system," walker said.
..... "This system (gets) you what you want and need, not in tow or three days, or even two or three hours, but in less than 30 minutes," he told a crowd at the company's headquarters in Virginia.
...... What Walker described is a proprietary seres of new hardware and software gadgets and tech tools than can make sure when you order something from a nearby Walmart or Chick-fil A, for example. it lands on your doorstep long before your sandwich gets soggy or your milkshake gets runny.
..... Usually, it takes several people, including drivers, to do that work. But as e-commerce continues to skyrocket, having a giant fleet of trucks or cars deliver small packages to people all over the map doesn't make the most sense anymore.
..... Logistics experts say that ground delivery is expensive and increasingly dangerous due to a rise in delivery-related accidents and rundown infrastructure. It's also bad for the environment and unable to keep up with the escalating demand.
..... DroneUp's new "last mile ecosystem" includes a new high-tech package kiosk they call the "DBX Hub." It looks like a big portable ATM or high-tech drive-thru coffee kiosk. The idea is to put it next to a drive-thru windows, or a roof-top or in popular pickup and drop-off locations like college campuses.
..... "All it needs is power," walker said. "It's completely self-contained and fully automates the package loaning process."
..... It works like this: You make an Online order, and a store gets it just like they do today. a worker grabs your stuff, boxes it up, attaches a bar code and sets it inside the temperature-controlled hub.
..... Robotic equipment in the locker weights the package and sends it to a waiting drone. The drone attaches the box via tehter and speeds off, flying some 300 feet high until it gets to your home. It then hovers, lowering your goodies down gently from around 90 feet up.
..... A bevy on on-broad sensors "know if there's anything in the way," Walker said, "and can steer clear of trees, wires, people, pets, lawn furniture an even porch pirates." He added that if someone does gram the tether, it releases and will sound an alarm back at the package base.
..... The top of the new hub has a landing pad and charing base for drones to come and go, and the plan is for these to always be a backup drone, or drones at nearby hubs that can fill in when there are no drones available at a particular location.
..... The hubs can also function as standalone storage lockers or automated extensions of existing retrials. In that case, you could order something, like a prescription from your pharmacy, and than pick it up at one of the hubs of your choosing.
..... DroneUp's just-announced Drone-delivery ecosystem is already in use in Garland, Texas. 7-11 announced it will use DroneUp's new system, and Walker expects more areas and retainers to roll out within the coming weeks.

Quest for sky-high dominance

..... DroneUp's news is the latest volley in what's turning into a real battle for deliver drone expansion in the U.S.
..... DroneUp is one of at least three U. S.-based companies - including Zipline and Wing - that fly delivers for retailers and health clinics in several states, including Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Virginia.
..... Silicon Valley darling Zipline announced in March 2023 its similar "Plaform 2" system is being tested in California.
..... It includes a charging station and dock that can also attach to the side of a boodling had help automate the entire process. Rather than lowing a box like Droneup, Zipline lowers a temperature-controlled self-steering cargo droid on a tether. The droid then releases the package from its belly before assenting back into the sky.
..... "We expect Platform 2 to roll out in America this year [2024] and serve millions of people in the united States over the next few years in Texas, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Utah," Jeff Willamina, head of U.S. Operations at Zipline, said in a text message.
..... Wing, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, has a "Wing Delivery Network" made up of drones, designated pads for takeoff and landing, and "autoloader: statio9ns where workers can put packages to wait for pickup and delivery.
..... In a video posted on YouTube, Wing shared that it 'completed 5,000 delivers to Walmart customers in its first six months across two locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area" and plans to expand to other areas throughout the year.
..... A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration says there haven't been "any significant reportable accidents' with drone deliveries in the U.S.

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