Delivery drones have long been thought of as a reasonable next step towards humanity’s robot-filled future. Not quite as ambitious as flying cars but leagues ahead of the humble mailman, cargo-carrying quadcopters once seemed an inevitable extension of the impressive aerial tech we’ve seen from the likes of DJI and Sony.
But not all forward-looking concepts are destined for lift-off. Drone delivery projects from industry heavyweights including UPS and Amazon are struggling to get off the ground – and analysts have told us why these airborne couriers aren’t likely to replace their ground-based equivalents anytime soon.
DHL, for instance – one of the world’s largest mail networks – has now officially abandoned its Parcelcopter delivery drone project, eight years after the multi-billion dollar company first began developing the technology. Reports from Germany (via DroneDJ) suggest the international delivery service no longer intends to manufacture its own drones nor continue testing its Parcelcopter in any capacity, just weeks after Amazon announced a similar shuttering of its equivalent program, Prime Air, in the UK. So why are drones failing to become our aerial couriers? RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.474.0_en.html#goog_966962626Volume 0% PLAY SOUND
The Parcelcopter was first launched by DHL in 2013, and was, back then, basically a prototype quadcopter capable of carrying small parcels up to one kilometre. In the years since, the company modified the drone to fly faster, for longer and increased its cargo capacity with every iteration – though the last prototype came in 2018.