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Zomato drone tests food packet delivery at 80kmph
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SME Times News Bureau | 12 Jun, 2019
Online ordering and food delivery platform Zomato on Wednesday said it
has successfully tested its maiden drone delivery technology using a
hybrid drone that covered a distance of five km in about 10 minutes with
a peak speed of 80 kmph to deliver a food packet.
"The drone was
tested last week at one of the remote sites approved by the DGCA. Such
tests are done at very remote sites which are especially designed to
conduct such tests," Zomato told IANS.
However, the food aggregator did not reveal the exact location where the drone delivered the package.
According
to the notification issued by Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
on May 13, interested companies have been asked to submit an Expression
of Interest (EOI) to the DGCA for conducting experimental Beyond Visual
Line of Sight operations (BVLOS) of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems
(RPAS)/Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
"The only possible way to
reduce the average 30 minutes to 15 minutes is to take the aerial
route. Roads are not efficient for very fast deliveries.
"We
have been working towards building sustainable and safe delivery
technology and with our first successful test, food delivery by drones
is no longer just a pipe dream," Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO,
Zomato, said in a statement.
"While regulatory hurdles are not
trivial, and the government's concerns need to be looked at from various
(valid) points of view, the tech is ready to fly and I am confident
that drone delivery will be commonplace sooner rather than later."
The
hybrid drone with a fusion of rotary wing and fixed wings carried a
payload of five kg. Fully automated, each drone is currently being
tested with (remote) pilot supervision to ensure safety.
Over time, as the company collects more data, it is likely to do away with the pilot supervision.
Zomato
had acquired TechEagle, a Lucknow-based drone startup, to solve issues
such as reducing pollution and handling traffic in 2018 end.
Currently, the average time required for the food delivery platform's biker fleet to deliver food is 30 minutes.
Considering
the increasing congestion on roads and pollution, using drones for
delivery could be a game changer for metro cities as it would help
scrape unnecessary traffic off the roads and direct it skyward, the
company added.
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