The race to build the best drone delivery service just got more exciting thanks to a recent successful drone test flight over water. It involved an unmanned aerial vehicle owned by United Parcel Service (UPS).
The test covered a 3-mile distance in a UPS medical emergency simulation where a package needs to be delivered to a YMCA camp located in Children's Island. It is part of a series of tests that the company is conducting using drones supplied by CyPhy Works, a Massachusetts-based UAV manufacturer.
"Tests like these reveal a bridge to the future of customer service and urgent package delivery," UPS said in an official statement. "We are continuously exploring ways to improve our network to efficiently support our customers' demanding requirements."
The test used a 42-inch CyPhy Works drone that weighed close to 10 pounds. It is reportedly capable of carrying up to 5 pounds of load. During the test, the drone took approximately eight minutes to cover the 3-mile flight, flying at a speed of 22 miles per hour.
The UPS simulation is only one of the recent initiatives from commercial companies such as Amazon and Walmart to come up with drone-based delivery services amid the release of Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) official guidelines that finally confirm and regulate commercial drone use.
UPS, for its part, is purportedly bent on employing drones to manage inventories in its warehouses. This can be achieved, for instance, in drones that are able to scan barcodes.
The UPS simulation also aims to help regulatory institutions such as the FAA to generate more information especially about drone flight safety. This comes amid regulatory caution over policymaking since UAVs could complicate air traffic and even pose danger to conventional air transports.
UPS, like its competitors, is also angling to secure the FAA's good graces. By providing more information on areas such as speed and performance in specific flight conditions through its tests, the company could be given a waiver that would allow it to operate out of the line of sight. This last issue is particularly important for UPS and other companies seeking to adopt drones since the insights from tests and the actual drone operations are crucial in maintaining competitive advantage.
Observers, however, also point out that the successful UPS drone test constitutes a proof of concept that drones could meaningfully contribute in responding to emergencies and in saving lives in general. This is particularly significant especially since the test involved the use of a drone that followed the FAA guidelines.
