Uber at the Forbes Under 30 Summit conference presented a draft of a new convertiplane drone for food delivery from the Uber Eats service. About it writes Forbes.
The device will not be used to close the so-called last mile - the distance from the courier’s car to the user's apartment. A drone from Uber will solve the problem of the first mile - the device will be able to pick up food from restaurants and bring it to the driver's gathering place, where it will be picked up by the courier and delivered to the customer.
The drone's payload has not yet been specified. According to representatives of Uber, he will be able to deliver "dinner for two people." One charge of the device’s battery lasts for eight minutes of flight - including the time of loading and unloading the order. During this time, the drone will be able to fly 19 km.
Drone testing will begin in the summer of 2020 in San Diego. Other details of the future service are still almost unknown.
Technical testing of the service began in the summer of 2019. The Uber Eats drone with the VOXL system developed by ModalAI participated in the testing. VOXL technology has integrated cameras, GPS and sensors to transmit drone location information to the operator.