{"id":7022,"date":"2024-01-08T18:08:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T18:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/?p=7022"},"modified":"2024-01-08T18:08:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T18:08:42","slug":"drones-and-smart-mailboxes-wave-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/drones-and-smart-mailboxes-wave-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Drones and Smart Mailboxes:\u00a0Wave of the Future?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3OFtKflQw44?si=d6U4fNg71Jwu4Lza\" width=\"740\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nMost drone delivery companies deliver their cargo to customers point-to-point, in one of two ways.\u00a0 Zipline, for example, flies its drones over recipient properties and time releases their cargo via parachute to a nearby landing zone.\u00a0 The forward-flying aircraft never stops flying, saving time and reducing the delivery cost.\u00a0 Other companies like Wing stop and hover over recipient properties, then slowly lower the customer\u2019s package to the ground on a cable using a winch.\u00a0 It takes more time but allows for a more precision drop \u2013 to a picnic table or a porch.<\/p>\n<p>Two drone services companies \u2013 Valqari and Arrive (formerly DroneDek) \u2013 are working on a third delivery option:\u00a0 the \u201csmart\u201d locker or mailbox.\u00a0 The drone drops the desired cargo into a large upright storage cabinet conveniently located near customer homes \u2013 but not on their property.\u00a0 The customers must then travel a short distance to the password-controlled locker to retrieve their packages at a convenient time.<\/p>\n<p>The system, still in development, has several potential advantages. First, suppliers and customers need not coordinate their schedules to ensure a timely hand-off of cargo.\u00a0 Second, because of the added security a smart locker also protects customer packages from possible theft by porch pirates, an issue of rising concern nationwide.\u00a0 Third, with a properly sized mailbox or locker, and sufficient payload capacity, suppliers can provide delivery service to more than one customer living in the same neighborhood, possibly on a single drone flight, further reducing operational costs.<\/p>\n<p>Valqari has been working on its smart locker concept for at least two years.\u00a0 The technology is \u201cdrone agnostic\u201d \u2013 any UAV model, regardless of its specs can use the system.\u00a0 The locker \u2013 Valqari calls them \u201cDrone Delivery Stations\u201d \u2013 is programmed with all the relevant purchase and customer data and the approaching drone simply \u201cpings\u201d the locker to have it open its doors.\u00a0 The drone lands atop the locker and drops its cargo inside, then automatically flies away.\u00a0 Drone flights can be pre-programmed from a remote control station.\u00a0 In theory, the entire operation requires little or no human intervention.<\/p>\n<p>Arrive calls its drone storage stations \u201cMailbox as a Service\u201d \u2013 or MaaS.\u00a0 The basic concert is the same as Valqari\u2019s, though the company\u2019s early prototypes feature smaller cabinets that resemble trash bins.\u00a0 In this case, the entire top opens and the drone doesn\u2019t land but simply hovers over the box and drops its cargo inside, before flying away.<\/p>\n<p>While both companies have highlighted the role of drone lockers in retail consumer deliveries, it could be that their more salient role is for businesses and medical supply deliveries.\u00a0 Vaqari CEO Ryan Walsh says the company\u2019s DDS system would be useful in any \u201chigh-volume, small payload\u201d setting, including restaurants, hardware and auto parts stores.\u00a0 In fact, one day smart lockers might one day be used for all daily postal delivery, replacing street mailboxes and even postal delivery crews.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s holding up the day-to-day use of drone storage lockers?\u00a0 Regulatory obstacles, mainly.\u00a0 The FAA is still debating BVLOS regulations for retail delivery drones and has only just recently extended special waivers to companies like Zipline and Wing, which are still pioneering their own point-to-point systems.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a need for more drone infrastructure, including vertiports and ground sensor systems that can ensure that long-distance flights are safe and technically feasible.<\/p>\n<p>But some limited pilot operations are already underway.\u00a0 In the fall of 2022, Arrive (then still known as Dronedek) began making storage locker deliveries \u2013 financed by Oracle \u2013 near its home base in Lawrence, Indiana.\u00a0 The city is something of an emerging pioneer in the field of robotics and nearby Purdue University already uses robots for maintenance and other service tasks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re showcasing how this mailbox is ready right now for traditional delivery and what it can do in the near future when federal regulations are relaxed to enable autonomous delivery,&#8221; Dan O&#8217;Toole, Arrive\u2019s founder and CEO said last year.\u00a0 &#8220;We&#8217;re also marking the start of secure autonomous package delivery. It&#8217;s historic.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff Most drone delivery companies deliver their cargo to customers point-to-point, in one of two ways.\u00a0 Zipline, for example, flies its drones over recipient properties and time releases their cargo via parachute to a nearby landing zone.\u00a0 The forward-flying aircraft never stops flying, saving time and reducing the delivery cost.\u00a0 Other companies like Wing stop&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/drones-and-smart-mailboxes-wave-of-the-future\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}