Chinese Supermarket Delivery Drone?

Chinese Supermarket Delivery Drone?

by | Jun 27, 2018 | Air, News Brief | 0 comments

“Drones push aerial logistics, technology pushes retail.” China is really ramping up food delivery via drone. Super Species (a convenience store part of Yonghui Supermarkets) has teamed up with Ehang Smart Technology (of aerial taxi fame) to deliver up to 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of perishables (such as prawns, salmon, beef, fruit and organic products) to customers within a 4.5 km radius from their store in in Guangzhou, China. By using drones, they have eliminated 40-60% of traffic time and report reducing operational costs by 50%. Since initial launch in May 2018, over 600 deliveries have been safely completed. According to ProduceReport, the process begins when nearby consumers place an order on Yonghui’s smartphone application or WeChat. Automatic determination is made whether delivery will be done by traditional ground transport or by drone. Upon receipt of order, an onsite worker will load the drone and press the “take off” button. The drone then follows a predetermined route to a predetermined spot at least 100 meters away from the final destination. A delivery man completes the final part of the delivery by land. The current quadcopter model being used can fly up to 40 km/h (24.85 mph) and deliver up to 500 grams of goods within a 4.5 km (2.8 mi) radius. The carrying capacity of future models is expected to increase to 5 kg (11 lbs) within a 7 km (4.35 mi) radius.   More info...
Chinese Takeaway Meal Delivery By Drone?

Chinese Takeaway Meal Delivery By Drone?

by | Jun 21, 2018 | Air, News Brief | 0 comments

Meal delivery drones will operate in an industrial zone in Shanghai, China. Ele.me has been given the green light to operate along 17 newly approved routes over a 58 square kilometer industrial zone in Shanghai. Consumers will be able to receive online takeaway meal orders via drones within 20 minutes (at no extra charge) after confirming the delivery on their smartphones.  Personnel at the delivery points will distribute the meals carried by each drone directly to the specified addresses of customers. This is expected to significantly lower operating costs compared with normal delivery methods given that delivery personnel will only need to run 15% of the routes. The E7 drone model likely to be used can carry up to 6 kg and fly as far as 20 km at a maximum speed of 65 km per hour. Approximately 100 different restaurants operating inside the Jinshan Industrial Park are participating. More info...
What Do China’s Delivery Drones Look Like? – JD.Com Spotlight

What Do China’s Delivery Drones Look Like? – JD.Com Spotlight

by | Oct 26, 2017 | Air, In-Depth | 0 comments

  26 OCTOBER 2017 Chinese Delivery Drones China Focus: JD.com Is Beating Amazon at the Delivery Drone Game JingDong (aka JD.com) has been aggressively developing its drone capabilities ever since they first announced their intention to use delivery drones in October 2015. Earlier this year, they boldly announced plans to establish 150 operational sites for delivery drones in the province of Sichuan over a three year span. By June they had already conducted test flights. As of October, according to their recently released YouTube video, their delivery drones have logged in a total of 30,821 minutes in flight time, delivered 8,086 packages and flown a total of 10,242 km (6,364 mi).  By comparison, Amazon (who was the first to amaze us back in 2013 with the whole delivery drone concept) seems to still be stuck in the testing stage. They only recently conducted their first proof-of-concept flight in Cambridge, England this past December. So what do China’s delivery drones look like? How will they be used and what does the future hold for them? The JD.com delivery drone fleet circa 2016. Source: JD.com The JD.com Delivery Drone Fleet As of June 2017, JD.com had seven (7) different types of delivery drones in testing or operation across four provinces in China (Beijing, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Jiangsu). The drones are capable of delivering packages weighing between 5 to 30 kg (11 to 66 lbs) while flying up to 100 km/hr (62 mph). The drones do not deliver goods directly to people’s homes. Rather, they automatically fly along fixed routes from warehouses to special landing pads where one of JD.com’s 300,000 local contractors then deliver the packages to the customers’...
Chinese Delivery Drones with 15 kg Payload

Chinese Delivery Drones with 15 kg Payload

by | Jun 14, 2016 | Air | 0 comments

Drone package deliveries at less than 0.5 yuan (7.6 U.S. cents) per parcel Chinese delivery drones with a payload of 10-15 kg are currently operating in Suqian City, China – JD[dot]com has two drones capable of handling 200 parcels a day. With a range of 15 to 20 km at a speed of up to 54 km per hour, the drones automatically load and unload goods between depots rather than delivering directly to customers. >>> #deliverydrones...
Getting the Par-TEA Started: Alibaba Tests Parcel Delivery Drones in China

Getting the Par-TEA Started: Alibaba Tests Parcel Delivery Drones in China

by | Jul 17, 2015 | Air | 0 comments

Alibaba’s Taobao tested delivering ginger tea bags via drone Unmanned Cargo Delivery Concept – Chronicle 11 Drones are delivering ginger tea in China  (February 04, 2015) (Editor’s Note: Limited pilot drone delivery program to help Alibaba market its e-commerce ecosystem.) What the Article Chronicles:  In February 2015, Alibaba’s online marketplace, Taobao, partnered up with YTO Express to run a real world test in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, allowing 450 people (on a first-come-first-served basis) to order ginger tea and receive it via UAV in less than an hour. For only 49 renimbi (US$ 7.84), those lucky enough to be able to participate in the pilot project were able to have a “unique and innovative shopping experience”. Destinations and routes were pre-set by staff upon receipt of order thus allowing the five quadcopters forming the trial delivery fleet to automatically deliver their payload. However, the tea deliveries were not performed directly to the customers’ doors, rather the parcel drones landed in pre-designated landing areas near residential areas similarly to S.F. Express’ concept given that delivery needed to be confirmed by signature. Unfortunately, there are no further plans to expand this concept. Link to the promotional Alibaba video can be found here or here. Official UAV / Drone Name: Not specified however it most likely was the YTO X650. Basic UAV/ Drone Description:  Quadcopter Payload: Up to 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) however the ginger tea packages delivered were limited to a maximum of 340 grams (12 oz). Range: Maximum of 10 km (6.2 miles) Speed: Not specified. Companies Involved: Alibaba YTO Express   What are your thoughts on the use of unmanned tea delivery drones in China? Comment below!...