In recent times, the food delivery industry has been witnessing numerous advancements. The next progress in this segment will be the deployment of drones. Uber is one of the companies that is testing drone delivery of food for its delivery service Uber Eats in the dense urban environments.
Uber started testing drone delivery after being awarded the right test commercial drone delivery of food by the Federal Aviation Administration. The initial phase of testing drone delivery at San Diego State University with McDonald’s was completed a few months back. Now, the company unveiled the first look of the Uber Eats delivery drone’s design.
Uber delivery drone: First look!
At the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit, the company unveiled the new Uber Eats delivery drone design. The company plans to use this design to test the meal delivery process in San Diego next summer. The company plans to start flying the first drone model by the end of this year.
Detailing on its design, the Uber delivery drone is designed to carry up to one meal for two people. It features rotating wings with six rotors. The vehicle can take-off and land vertically and fly a maximum of eight minutes, including both loading and unloading. Eventually, it is suitable only for short hauls. The overall flight range is 18 miles and the round-trip delivery range is 12 miles.
How will it work?
Well, the company does not intend to use drones for the full delivery process but only a part of it. The delivery giant Uber is in plans to fly meals from restaurants to a preset specific location where an Uber driver will travel the last mile to deliver it to the customer.
Uber’s Elevate Cloud Systems will track the delivery drone and guide it. It will also notify the delivery driver regarding when and where the food should be picked up. In future, Uber is in plans to land drones on top of parked Uber vehicles near the delivery locations. The delivery driver can complete the last mile handing over the order to the customers.
Challenges ahead
During the testing process, there were some obstacles faced by drone delivery services. These services have to deal with weather issues. Apart from this, these services have to ensure to identify other objects such as wires, birds and other drones. Despite these challenges, there are companies that take up drone delivery seriously and Uber is one of them.
Main image picture credits: Uber
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