Akihabara News (Tokyo) — JP Rakuten Logistics, a drone delivery company, conducted an experiment of delivering relief supplies via drone to a 105 meter-high apartment building in Makuhari New City, Chiba, positing the scenario of a major disaster.
In the experiment, a drone delivered relief supplies from a logistics warehouse to the top of the high-rise apartment.
First, the recipient ordered products through the app. When warehouse staff received the notification, they prepared and loaded the drone, with a maximum weight capacity of 7 kilograms. After they pressed the takeoff button, the drone automatically took flight and delivered the items to the elevated destination.
The app allowed recipients to check the delivery status at all points in the process.
The drone flew at about 50 kilometers per hour, reaching the vertiport on the roof of the building in 20 minutes. Emergency kits, food, and medicine were successfully delivered in this experiment.
Through this kind of service it is expected that relief supplies can be delivered if a disaster has eliminated the possibility of ground delivery, perhaps after a major earthquake.
In less dire circumstances, this service or ones like it could establish a new lifestyle with efficient drone delivery systems in urban areas.
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