Australia Post tests drone delivery

By Park Sae-jin Posted : April 19, 2016, 11:28 Updated : April 19, 2016, 11:28

[Courtesy of Australia Post]



Delivering small sized packages with drones have been the hot idea in the delivery market over the years. Amazon is one of the leaders in the market, currently setting up drone stations to deliver goods to consumers in the fastest way possible. Now, Australia Post is testing its delivery system using the drone technology.

"We're excited to be the first major parcels and logistics company in Australia to test RPA technology for commercial delivery applications," Australia Post managing director and group CEO Ahmed Fahour said in a statement on Friday.

"We will put this innovative technology through its paces over the coming weeks and months to understand what it can deliver, how far it can travel, and ultimately, how our customers could receive a parcel."

The Australia Post is not yet sure how it will use the drones in delivery, but Fahour expects drones will be ideal for time-critical delivery for medication or to hard-to-reach places. Australia Post said that they will run closed field test in upcoming weeks and may advance into customer test is the latter half of the year.

Although drone delivery system sounds great, there are risks of accidents, which may cause a civilian casualty. Australia Post says the safety's the first thing they will focus on.

Australia Post's approach towards drone delivery may shift paradigm in state-run delivery systems worldwide. Commercial company like Amazon is preparing drone delivery system, but so far, no government or any state-run company has yet tried to set up a delivery networks using the drone technology.

Instead, there are many governments working on using drone technology in life-saving uses and surveillance. Also, some governments like the US, Japan, and Korea sees drone as a potential threat to the government's security and set out to regulate against the commercial drones and its owners.


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