October 8, 2015 10:52 BST
Singapore has carried out
the world's first point-to-point postal delivery by drone SingPost and IDA
Singapore has
successfully performed the world's first delivery of mail by drone, conducting
a test flight carrying a letter and a parcel with a T-shirt, which crossing
from one island to another.
While there have been
other similar postal-delivery-by-drone trials conducted
by DHL in Germany, Swiss
Post in Switzerland and thePosti
Group in Finland, Singapore Post
(SingPost) claims that this is the first time that an unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) has been used for point-to-point recipient-authenticated mail delivery.
The drone took off from
Lorong Halus, a wetland area on the eastern bank of Serangoon Reservoir on
mainland Singapore, and flew 2km to the delivery location within just five
minutes across open water to Pulau Ubin, one of Singapore's 60 offshore
islands, preserved as a rural area of beauty.
The SingPost Alpha Drone
The SingPost Alpha Drone
was built by SingPost in collaboration with IDA Labs, the research arm of the
government agency Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).
It can carry a payload
weighing up to 500g and travel a maximum distance of 2.3km, but it cannot fly
any higher than 45m, which is far below the maximum height of 400m established
by civil aviation authorities in Europe and the US.
A map showing the flight
path taken by the Alpha drone to make its first ever mail deliverySingPost and IDA
The drone uses technology
from the open source Pixhawk
Steadidrone platformtogether with a new experimental delivery
platform developed by SingPost and tied to a mobile app.
"This drone
technology is tailored for use in dense urban landscapes. It is
energy-efficient and reduces carbon footprint as it is fully
battery-operated," said Dr Bernard Leong, head of digital services at
SingPost.
"We have developed a
customised solution app equipped with security features and authentication
functions to ensure that mail and packages are delivered to the intended
recipient. Through this app, users will be able to select their preferred
delivery date and time to suit their schedules."
Still a way to go before
drone deliveries take off
Drone delivery might
sound very exciting, but realistically even Singapore, which is known for its
early adoption of emerging technologies, admits that it will be some time
before UAVs become a regular sight in the sky.
"Although it will be
a while before it is viable for drone mail delivery to take off in Singapore,
taking into consideration commercial and safety factors; this first step by
SingPost and IDA demonstrates what Singapore is trying out with our Smart
Nation vision – to have the various parts of our ecosystem collaborate,
experiment with new ways of doing things, and in the process, literally aim for
the sky with new technology," said Jacqueline Poh, managing director of
IDA.
Drone guidelines set out
by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, following the passing of the
Unmanned Aircraft (Public Safety and Security) Bill in August 2015CAAS
Singapore allows anyone to fly drones within their line of sight, but commercial users must obtain an operator permit and an activity permit, following the passing of the Unmanned Aircraft (Public Safety and Security) Bill in
August. Even recreational users are required to apply for an activity
permit if they choose to fly the UAV outdoors, but no permit is required
if the drone is flown indoors or in an area not affecting the general
public.
The Singapore
government is keen to push the use of drones in order to ease manpower
constraints in the country. In February, local restaurant chain Timbre
Group made international news for trialling drone waiters to help deliver food from its kitchens.
Source : http://www.ibtimes.co.uk
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