Last mile drone delivery has taken a step forward after retailer 7-Eleven and drone delivery service provider Flirtey completed the "first fully autonomous delivery" to a US customer’s residence in Nevada.
The delivery will help advance research toward integrating drones into the National Airspace System.
The Flirtey drone delivered a 7-Eleven chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee and Slurpees.
“This delivery required special flight planning, risk analysis, and detailed flight procedures ensuring residential safety and privacy were equally integrated,” said Chris Walach, director of operations for Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) which has teamed up with Flirtey for the test run.
At Reno, hot and cold food items were loaded into a Flirtey drone delivery container and flown autonomously using precision GPS to a local customer’s house.
Once at the family’s backyard, the Flirtey drone hovered in place and gently lowered each package.
Building on this initial collaboration, the two companies plan to expand drone delivery tests and work closely together, according to 7-Eleven chief merchandising officer, Jesus Delgado-Jenkins.
Said Delgado-Jenkins: “This delivery marks the first time a retailer has worked with a drone delivery company to transport immediate consumables from store to home.”