Logistics created the modern world. Definitely, technologies have a huge impact on it. The more simple logistics the more profit will be for the client. Though, sometimes things might not work as simply as we want them to. Many factors can influence the delivery. Especially when it goes about delivery from door to door. Drones should be able to solve that issue. But when many transnational companies tried to use drones as delivery units in local areas, they met many problems that were pretty hard to solve. China proved that every issue can be solved with a huge effort and work. So next time, you will be waiting for your parcel, you can chill with the online casino for mobile and your waiting time will vanish. We are going to talk here about food delivery with drones. You thought it was impossible? Well, Chinese Meituan proved the opposite.
Recently the owner of the Meituan company got his drink right in time after making an order with the drone delivery. The video can be found on the Internet. We should admit that during COVID-19, many countries decided to pay attention to their supply chains and logistics. China could check millions of people in Beijing with drones checking their temperature. After finding the right person, making the identification instantly and providing the instructions on where to go with the shortest route to the medical department. Imagine such options in your town or city. After the pandemic was announced as a passing event, China didn’t stop and kept using drones in many local deliveries.
Infrastructure Is Essential
Logistics works very well between the countries when both of them are well developed. Infrastructure always costs lots of money and always needs the latest updates and developments. As Romans built the first roads, today in Europe many trucks deliver different types of goods, so such infrastructure should be built for the drones.
There are many different types of drones. According to their size, their main options are cargo capacity and lifting possibilities. You can use such drones as real aviation infrastructure with the tower, runways, etc. But it might cause lots of problems for the aircraft. Meituan solved them by creating their own place for drones. The huge problem was the urban delivery with dense buildings. Many companies such as Amazon failed to do this.
Meituan created their hubs on the top roofs of the largest shopping malls. At the moment they possess five of such hubs. They have a special application. When they get the order from the client, staff personnel buy the goods. They laid the goods in a small box, so the drones could deliver them. And drones basically do that without any help from people. Of course, during some troublesome routes, the drones will be controlled by company dispatchers. But most of the time drones deliver goods using only navigation systems.
You should understand that the delivery does not go directly to your apartment. To make sure that such logistics would be working, the company installed boxes near different buildings. After getting the desired goods, the drone takes off, moves according to its navigation systems directly to such boxes, and lands on the roof. After less than a minute, you can take your goods. It might sound less convenient, but it solved many problems that the company had. It should be mentioned that the delivery is brought on time.
Drones And Laws
The worst topic in all spheres today is politics. From best friends to worst enemies can pass several minutes and one political topic. Of course, having great logistics is not everything. Not all countries have the opportunity as China to produce any type of drone for any sphere. Moreover, not every country has the right laws that would wisely describe the use of drones and protect civilians from casualties. China looks friendly and sees a great opportunity in using them, so the laws allow the use of drones. The Shenzhen municipal government has established a strong supply chain for drone manufacturing. It is particularly friendly to the industry. In addition, the Chinese government has allowed special economic zones, including this city, to be more flexible in regulating commercial drones.
That is why Meituan conducts most of its experiments. The company has just opened a new route in Shanghai and has launched drones in other cities from time to time, but Shenzhen will remain the main test space.
We have not seen any reports of security incidents with Meituan drones. Around the world, delivery drones have not harmed a single person. But sometimes drones can crash, causing bushfires and power outages.
Meituan has made technical adjustments to ensure the safe operation of drones in cities. The company constructed a more wind-resistant blade design and developed its own computer vision-based navigation system. It complements the GPS signal that weakens between buildings.
Cooperation With People
Many restaurants today in China are pretty used to drone delivery. Moreover, they say that it is easier than with people. As drones do not steal food and restaurants do not need to solve such problems. It is a normal working day to load one drone and get the delivery products from another in some Chinese restaurants.
For many Chinese people deliveries with drones became something simple and normal, as it always used to be with them. The owner of the Meituan believes that soon enough fewer and fewer people will be working in deliveries. The biggest question is financial. As it is now an experiment with food, it is hard to say whether it will bring much profit or not. Besides, some people will still be needed to check the drones and systems. besides to make such a project become in mass, there should be built lots of boxes for drones and hubs. After making the first steps, more problems might appear.
Conclusion
Drones delivery is not new. It is a part of logistics and might help solve some supply chain issues. Whether drones will be able to deliver heavy containers between countries? Definitely, they will be able to do so. Logistics make the world go round, and the only option that stops it today is politics.
