As the movement to utilize drones for logistics continues, the Rakuten Group, which operates an online shopping site, conducted a demonstration experiment to carry luggage to high-rise condominiums in urban areas.
The experiment was conducted in Chiba prefecture in December with the aim of responding to labor shortages in the logistics industry and shortening delivery time, and the situation was released on the 11th.
The drone loaded emergency food and medicines in a warehouse in the coastal area of Ichikawa City, and took off aiming for a high-rise condominium in the Makuhari New City district of Chiba City, about 12 km away.
It means that he flew over Tokyo Bay by automatic flight with destinations and routes, and arrived at the roof of a 31-story condominium in about 17 minutes.
When flying a drone in an urban area where many people live, it is currently necessary for the pilot to visually check it, and in this experiment, he continued to watch it by monitoring it from a ship while flying in Tokyo Bay.
The government is aiming to change the system so that it can fly without the eyes of the operator even in places with people such as urban areas by the end of next year, and the company will cooperate with its own online shopping in the future to distribute logistics using drones. I want to aim for the practical application of the service.
Hideaki Mukai, general manager of JP Rakuten Logistics, who is in charge of the logistics business, said, "Logistics using drones has great merits, and we would like to repeat experiments and aim for practical use."