Engineering news
FPS, a nationwide supply chain solution provider, claims to have completed the first UK business-to-business delivery to be made by a drone.
FPS partnered with Yorkshire-based Droneflight for the proof of concept project, which delivered a belt tensioner from the FPS National Distribution Centre in Sheffield to local customer.
One modified DJI s1000 drone and a DJI Inspire 1 were used to complete and film the delivery. The s1000 was adapted to carry a weatherproof box to hold the product for delivery. At a speed of up to 30mph, it could travel about 7 miles on one battery.
Several challenges had to be overcome, such as metal racking in the warehouse interfering with the drone’s compass, and weather conditions, mostly wind, making for difficult flight conditions.
All activities adhered to the strict regulations regarding drone use, including line of sight flying, and safe distance zones for staff and public, particularly at take-off and landing. The total weight was limited to under 7kg, and all drones were operated by qualified pilots with permission from the Civil Aviation Authority for aerial work.
Neil Davis, FPS managing director, said: “We are constantly striving to find the most innovative and effective ways to service our customers. In an industry where time is critical, if we are able to get to our customers more quickly, in a way that aligns with our business ethos, we will continue to invest in making that a reality.
“In the short term, the drone solution is likely to be cost prohibitive, and with current legislation we are not planning any changes any time soon. In addition, given the varied weight of products in our portfolio, it would only really be viable for lightweight parts travelling to customers in less populated zones. However, this has proved a very useful exercise to form our future vision.”
In December 2013 Amazon announced that it intended to deliver packages to customers using drones. Later, in the summer of 2014, Google demonstrated its own drone-based delivery service, using a fixed-wing aircraft to deliver packages to farmers in the Australian outback.
Meanwhile, in September last year delivery firm DHL announced a regular drone service for the first time, nine months after it launched its “parcelcopter” research project in December 2013.