Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Chick-fil-A will all be piloting autonomous drone delivery technology from DroneUp LLC, according to Axios. Walmart is a partial owner of the company.
The Virginia Beach, Va.-based company unveiled its technology ecosystem earlier this year. The ecosystem, which DroneUp claimed will revolutionize last-mile logistics, integrates ground, air, and software products into a single platform.
DroneUp said it is moving toward scalable and economically feasible drone delivery for retailers, quick service restaurants (QSRs), healthcare, and other businesses.
“Throughout the last few years, our work with leading retailers and quick-service restaurants has provided us with valuable insights into the speed and convenience that end customers desire from drone delivery,” stated Tom Walker, CEO of DroneUp.
“With unparalleled technology, our Ecosystem is designed to exceed those expectations, enabling us to perform millions of deliveries daily,” he added. “We are setting a new standard in logistics, making our services scalable, affordable, and more accessible.”
DroneUp’s system includes ground, air, and software products
DroneUp’s Ecosystem combines automated ground infrastructure, a suite of operating systems, and an autonomous drone platform. The first part of the platform is DBX, the company’s ground infrastructure.
DBX enables autonomous pickup of packages from retailers, QSRs, and other origination points. It provides climate-controlled package management and storage with a footprint smaller than a parking space.
DBX will also be deployed as a delivery destination in urban areas, “unlocking” drone delivery to hard-to-deliver places such as apartments and multi-dwelling communities, said DroneUp. DBX can act as a secure locker, keeping packages secure and addressing the issue of “porch piracy.” Customers can also return their items in just minutes using DBX, enabling convenient reverse logistics, said the company.
The next part of the system is DroneUp’s “end-to-end autonomy.” The company’s software suite aims to reduce human touchpoints an make possible affordable deliveries at scale.
DroneUp added that its autonomous flight planning and control applications enable “one-to-many” control, allowing a single operator to monitor many drones instead of flying just one. Its autonomy software also enables drones to land automatically on top of DBX for package pickup and delivery.
The autonomy system includes digitized maps and advanced flight-coordination features, including “detect-and-avoid” technology. DroneUp said this technology separates its from traditional aircraft, expanding its reach by enabling flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and providing high levels of safety assurance.
DroneUp readies platform for takeoff
DroneUp said its latest drone platform complements DBX with internal package storage for rain, snow, and sun production. The company’s drones can reach speeds of up to 60 mph (96.5 kph) and have a 30-mile (48.2 km) range. This means DroneUp’s Ecosystem can cover up to 15 miles around integrated vendors.
This extended range allows DroneUp to support a higher volume of orders than ever before. The platform supports onboard charging, alleviating the need to swap battery packs, it said.
The drones also come equipped with onboard vertical clearance sensing. It can reduce operator workload by automatically determining the drone’s height above obstacles, the company explained. The drone can picks up and drop off items using a new claw-like package grasper that can perform aerial drops up to 120 ft. (36.5 m).
The global market for aerial drone delivery is “a multi-billion-dollar industry today and [is] expected to grow exponentially over the next decade,” said Forbes. It could grow from 1.2 billion in 2021 to $4.3 billion by 2027, predicted Statista. It forecast strong revenue growth in the U.S.
DroneUp said it has begun rolling out its Ecosystem in both Virginia Beach and Dallas and plans to expand to additional select markets in late 2024.
