With the likes of big-named Amazon and Google having already tested commercial delivery via drone technology in the USA and Australia, German logistics giants DHL have announced the first commercial drone “Paketkopter” delivery service.
DHL will be delivering pharmaceuticals to the remote island of Juist, to a population less than 2,000 from the Seehund Pharmacy based in Norddeich. DHL are hugely excited as it is nine months since the “parcelcopter” test project in December 2013 was so successful.
The service will use a self-determining quadcopter to deliver small parcels containing medicines and other urgent goods, to the small sandbar island 12km into the North Sea from Norddeich in the German Coast.
The drone is expected the fly at an altitude of 50 metres over a 12 kilometer distance each way, without any human control during this time period. The drone will take a completely automated route to a dedicated landing area within Juist, where the DHL courier will then deliver the parcels to it’s final destination.
To safely deliver the goods to the landing point, DHL Parcel created an air-transport container that as well as being lightweight is waterproof, which means the unpredictable weather won’t affect the delivery process.
Although this is a hugely exciting announcement for DHL, the drones will be constantly monitored by a professional in Norddeich for safety reasons, to ensure safety and the nation’s regulations. The ground station will also be in regular contact with air traffic control for extra safety.
For this type of service to exist in the UK, DHL would have to overcome a lot of legal issues for a similar project to be accepted. British rules laid out by the Civil Aviation Authority limit unmanned vehicles to operating at least 50m from a building or person, and must always be within sight of an operator.
Self-controlled vehicles, like the parcelcopter, aren’t legal to fly in the UK, although a CAA spokesman stated that “the line-of-sight provision could go away some time in the future when we see a device able to make decisions about avoiding whatever objects are out there”.
Jürgen Gerdes, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL’s Post eCommerce Parcel Division, also went ahead to say “The DHL Paketkopter 2.0 is already one of the most reliable flight systems in its class that meets all requirements needed to fulfill such a mission”.
This is great news for the people of Juist as the company is now actively taking orders for their regular flights, which islanders can place at the island’s pharmacy. The scheduled flights will focus on times that are most convenient for delivering the packaged goods, such as when ferries and manned flights are not available.
Great news all around for Juist, DHL and the future of drone technology. Let’s hope that the service runs as smoothly and efficiently as anticipated, who knows, they might then have the initiative to branch out further in to Europe.
Take a look at the DHL quadcopter in action, with English subtitles.
DHL will be delivering pharmaceuticals to the remote island of Juist, to a population less than 2,000 from the Seehund Pharmacy based in Norddeich. DHL are hugely excited as it is nine months since the “parcelcopter” test project in December 2013 was so successful.
The service will use a self-determining quadcopter to deliver small parcels containing medicines and other urgent goods, to the small sandbar island 12km into the North Sea from Norddeich in the German Coast.
The drone is expected the fly at an altitude of 50 metres over a 12 kilometer distance each way, without any human control during this time period. The drone will take a completely automated route to a dedicated landing area within Juist, where the DHL courier will then deliver the parcels to it’s final destination.
To safely deliver the goods to the landing point, DHL Parcel created an air-transport container that as well as being lightweight is waterproof, which means the unpredictable weather won’t affect the delivery process.
Although this is a hugely exciting announcement for DHL, the drones will be constantly monitored by a professional in Norddeich for safety reasons, to ensure safety and the nation’s regulations. The ground station will also be in regular contact with air traffic control for extra safety.
For this type of service to exist in the UK, DHL would have to overcome a lot of legal issues for a similar project to be accepted. British rules laid out by the Civil Aviation Authority limit unmanned vehicles to operating at least 50m from a building or person, and must always be within sight of an operator.
Self-controlled vehicles, like the parcelcopter, aren’t legal to fly in the UK, although a CAA spokesman stated that “the line-of-sight provision could go away some time in the future when we see a device able to make decisions about avoiding whatever objects are out there”.
Jürgen Gerdes, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL’s Post eCommerce Parcel Division, also went ahead to say “The DHL Paketkopter 2.0 is already one of the most reliable flight systems in its class that meets all requirements needed to fulfill such a mission”.
This is great news for the people of Juist as the company is now actively taking orders for their regular flights, which islanders can place at the island’s pharmacy. The scheduled flights will focus on times that are most convenient for delivering the packaged goods, such as when ferries and manned flights are not available.
Great news all around for Juist, DHL and the future of drone technology. Let’s hope that the service runs as smoothly and efficiently as anticipated, who knows, they might then have the initiative to branch out further in to Europe.
Take a look at the DHL quadcopter in action, with English subtitles.