Drone invasion of the express delivery industry still faces many problems

Amazon's unmanned aerial vehicle express delivery business encountered regulatory difficulties. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has stated that it is currently not allowed to fly any commercial drones. The industry believes that Amazon's goal of launching the plan in 2015 is difficult to achieve. It is understood that the drone distribution of domestic express company SF Express has ended the test and entered the trial operation stage.

Amazon drones encounter difficulties

On December 1, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed the logistics plan called Prime Air for the first time when he participated in an interview with the "60 minutes" column of American CBS TV. According to the plan, Amazon will use unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver small packages in 30 minutes. The UAV can fly 16 kilometers and transport items weighing less than 2.26 kg.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently pointed out in an e-mail statement that the operation of self-controlled drones is "currently not allowed in the United States." Prior to the FAA regulations, only police and audiophiles were allowed to use drones. In recent years, only about 1,400 permits have been granted.

In this regard, Amazon said that the FAA is actively operating regulations related to unmanned aerial vehicles, and hopes that the FAA will deploy the relevant rules in 2015.

The US UPS express company was also developing drone express, but the latest news said that UPS believes that the current demand for drone express is too small to overcome the cost and technical challenges.

In addition, the safety issue is also the biggest doubt of the American public about drones. There is a view that obstacles such as trees, power lines, and tall buildings may on one hand prevent the goods from being accurately delivered to the designated location, on the other hand, it may also cause the drone to fall and endanger public safety. In addition, wind and weather conditions can cause unpredictable troubles.

Domestic drones will not face customers directly

In September this year, SF Express, a domestic express delivery company, has conducted drone tests in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. The relevant person in charge of SF Express told the reporter of the Beijing News yesterday that drone distribution can save labor costs and improve distribution efficiency. At present, SF's drone distribution has ended the test phase and entered the trial operation phase.

As the operation of the drone needs to be completed by professionals, and there are certain requirements for the landing site, in the future, SF's drones will not directly face customers, but will be distributed between SF Express's different outlets, mainly It is to send goods to remote areas that are difficult and slow for human distribution.

According to the person in charge, the SF drone distribution has not yet finalized the carrying capacity, weight and other conditions, and there is no clear official promotion schedule. For the purpose of safety first, SF Express is demonstrating the feasibility of factors such as the working environment of drones.

In addition, the domestic low-altitude airspace policy is not yet clear. Before the official promotion of drone distribution, SF Express will communicate with relevant departments.

Xu Yong, chief consultant of China Express Consulting Network, believes that the safe flight, professional operation and site requirements of drones are relatively high. Delivery requires precise positioning and high technical requirements.

More importantly, it may be feasible for some villas on the outskirts of the United States, but in China, due to low-altitude airspace restrictions and dense housing, it is very difficult to implement drones directly to customers.

â–  Expert opinion

"Technically feasible, regulation is the biggest bottleneck"

Tian Gangyin, an unmanned aerial vehicle expert and chairman of Beijing Zhonghangzhi Technology Co., Ltd., told the Beijing News on the 4th that drone express delivery is technically completely feasible and will inevitably become the trend of future cargo delivery, but whether it is currently in the United States or domestic Legal regulations and policy supervision are the biggest bottlenecks in the promotion of drone express delivery.

Tian Gangyin said that the current drone technology can realize the geolocation using GPS and video, can realize the mechanized shipment of goods, and push it according to the barcode. Even in high-rise buildings with dense buildings, the drone enters from the window Specifying a location is not a problem. As for avoiding high-altitude obstacles such as antennas and buildings, there is already a set of mature technologies in the field of drones to avoid obstacles accurately.

In addition, from the perspective of cost, Tian Gangyin explained that the cost of a single drone must be very high, but if it truly breaks through the policy bottleneck for large-scale production in the future, the cost can also achieve a competitive advantage with traditional express delivery.

In fact, there is no fuss about the delivery service through drones. Just like trains replace horse carriages and planes replace trains, the future popularity of drones to transport goods is only a further manifestation of modern technology. As for the low-altitude control, man-made damage, theft and other problems that the drone express may face, it is more a matter of legal scope.

Difficulties 1 Drone delivery faces regulatory challenges

Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, said that Amazon ’s timetable may be a little optimistic, because the FAA needs to do a lot of work to ensure the safety of UAVs. Another lawyer also pointed out that the FAA is not keen to promote unmanned aerial vehicles.

Difficulties 2 Security is the biggest problem with drones

The senior editor of the US NBC News Network, Yidihai Subbenman, published an article called "What if Amazon Drone hits me?" Many ordinary people worry about how to get compensation after being hit by a drone.

Difficult point 3 Cost restricts the actual use of drones

"Wire" magazine contributor Marcus Walson believes that if a drone flies 60 miles to San Francisco, it compares with 120 parcel trucks, 120 aircraft flying at 120 miles per hour Traveling to San Francisco is costly and inefficient.

Difficulties 4 Drones may face shooting problems

The Diltrell, Colorado area of ​​the United States is currently discussing whether to pass a bill allowing drone shooting, and a local resident has even started a course on "how to shoot a drone." Some netizens said: "I don't want to hear the noise of the drone every day."

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