7-Eleven is now delivering by drone — but only in one state
Source: BI
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7-Eleven and drone startup Flirtey made the very first consumer drone delivery in the United States, according to Tech Crunch.
The convenience store chain successfully delivered Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee, and candy to a family on July 10 using a drone built by Flirtey.
Amazon and Google have been seeking to develop a drone delivery service in the US;Amazon even announced this past week that it will be developing drone docking stations to shield drones from inclement weather and allow them to recharge during long deliveries.
However, regulatory barriers from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) continue to inhibit drone deliveries. The agency released a new comprehensive set of regulations back in June for the commercial use of drones, but the regulations did not allow commercial drones to fly long distances, which would be a necessity for Amazon’s package delivery service. Congress directed the FAA earlier this year to create rules that would allow for long-distance drone deliveries by 2018.
Drone deliveries have taken off elsewhere in the world, as JD.com introduced a drone delivery service between warehouses in rural China, and Switzerland’s post office has already conducted drone deliveries.
Drones turned the corner in 2015 to become a popular consumer device, while a framework for regulation that legitimizes drones in the US began to take shape. Technological and regulatory barriers still exist to further drone adoption.
Drone manufacturers and software providers are quickly developing technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance that will make flying drones safer. The accelerating pace of drone adoption is also pushing governments to create new regulations that balance safety and innovation.
Safer technology and better regulation will open up new applications for drones in the commercial sector, including drone delivery programs like Amazon’s Prime Air and Google’s Project Wing initiatives.
Jonathan Camhi, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed drones report that forecasts sales revenues for consumer, enterprise, and military drones. It also projects the growth of drone shipments for consumers and enterprises.
The report details several of world’s major drone suppliers and examines trends in drone adoption among several leading industries. Finally, it examines the regulatory landscape in several markets and explains how technologies like obstacle avoidance and drone-to-drone communications will impact drone adoption.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
We project revenues from drones sales to top $12 billion in 2021, up from just over $8 billion last year.
Shipments of consumer drones will more than quadruple over the next five years, fueled by increasing price competition and new technologies that make flying drones easier for beginners.
Growth in the enterprise sector will outpace the consumer sector in both shipments and revenues as regulations open up new use cases in the US and EU, the two biggest potential markets for enterprise drones.
Technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance will make flying drones safer and make regulators feel more comfortable with larger numbers of drones taking to the skies.
Right now FAA regulations have limited commercial drones to a select few industries and applications like aerial surveying in the agriculture, mining, and oil and gas sectors.
The military sector will continue to lead all other sectors in drone spending during our forecast period thanks to the high cost of military drones and the growing number of countries seeking to acquire them.
In full, the report:
Compares drone adoption across the consumer, enterprise, and government sectors.
Breaks down drone regulations across several key markets and explains how they’ve impacted adoption.
Discusses popular use cases for drones in the enterprise sector, as well as nascent use case that are on the rise.
Analyzes how different drone manufacturers are trying to differentiate their offerings with better hardware and software components.
Explains how drone manufacturers are quickly enabling autonomous flight in their products that will be a major boon for drone adoption.
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