A 7-Eleven customer’s order in the US for slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee, and candy will forever go down in history. What makes it remarkable is that the convenience store chain used a drone to deliver the order to a family, 7-Eleven said this week. The company partnered with drone startup Flirtey for the delivery, which the companies said was the first time a drone has legally delivered a package to a US resident who placed an order from a retailer.
But the drone delivery wasn’t a casual affair. “This delivery required special flight planning, risk analysis, and detailed flight procedures ensuring residential safety and privacy were equally integrated,” Chris Walach, the director of operations for the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), said in a statement. The NIAS is a Nevada government-backed non-profit autonomous vehicle advocacy group that helped oversee the delivery.
It took two drone flights to deliver all of the items ordered, the companies said. The drone flew autonomously for one mile from the 7-Eleven store in Reno to the family’s house using GPS. After the drone reached the house, it hovered above while lowering the container to the family’s backyard using a rope.
“The convenience of having access to instant, 24/7 drone delivery is priceless,” said the delivery’s recipient Michael. “It’s amazing that a flying robot just delivered us food and drinks in a matter of minutes.” 7-Eleven said it plans to work with Flirtey on future drone deliveries, but it did not say when it would roll out a broader drone delivery program for all of its stores.
Source: www.fortune.com
