A subsidiary of the UPS Flight Forward delivery service delivered prescription drugs directly to the customer’s home using a drone. Deliveries were made in partnership with the CVS pharmacy, as well as the logistics company Matternet, specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles.

The flight was carried out autonomously, but under the supervision of a remote operator who could take over the control of the drone if he had any difficulties. The company hopes that such unmanned aerial vehicles in the future will facilitate access to medicines for clients with disabilities.

A subsidiary of Google has already tested its own delivery service using drones, which brings over-the-counter medicines. But in this case, the service includes prescription drugs and delivers them directly to residential buildings.

Причина медленного прогресса в поставках беспилотников во многом связана с регулированием, которое не позволяет компаниям летать за пределами прямой видимости оператора или ночью без надлежащего разрешения FAA. UPS получила разрешение только в конце сентября, в то время как Wing получил свое разрешение еще в апреле. Теперь, когда обе компании получили одобрение FAA, им будет намного проще тестировать дроны, отмечает издание Mashable.

hightech.fm