"Such a big drone, to send a courier?"
"In the future, our couriers were delivered by drone? It's really advanced. ”
"No need to take a long detour to the town to get it, the courier fell from the sky, hahaha."
On Saturday, in front of the luci village committee building in Fuchunjiang Town, Tonglu County, many people were watching — three guard fences enclosed a control area, and in the middle of it was a square target printed with "Zhongtong Express" (marking the target of the drone's take-off and landing).
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Everyone is discussing, only to hear the sound of the propeller from far and near, a Petrel EL-61 pure electric six-rotor drone with a diameter of more than one meter long fell from the sky and landed steadily on the target.
A staff member wearing a "Zhongtong Express" overalls took a small step from the side and took out a package from the box under the drone.
It turned out that I was using a drone to send a courier!
Things have to start from the fourth China (Hangzhou) International Express Industry Conference in June this year, during the conference, Zhongtong Express carried out the first flight ceremony of the pilot drone delivery express delivery in Luci Village, and also released the first three UAV express delivery routes, starting from the Luci Village Committee, covering 3 subordinate natural villages of Qinglongwu, Baiyunyuan and Yanlingwu.
"These three natural villages do not have express delivery points, and it takes more than 40 minutes for villagers to pick up express deliveries in the town. Moreover, the winding road into the village only allows one car to pass, and the delivery of express delivery trucks is not convenient. If the weather is colder, the road surface is more dangerous to freeze. Yang Jun, senior engineer of UAV operation of Zhongtong Express, said that the use of drones to deliver express delivery takes only 7 or 8 minutes to the village, which is convenient and safe.
Yang Gong introduced that the route of UAV distribution is set in advance, as long as a specific marker target is placed at the take-off and landing site of the distribution point, the UAV will fly autonomously according to the preset route. After the courier is taken out, the operation dispatch center is notified to control the return of the drone.
"Due to airspace restrictions, we deliver 3 to 4 days a week, and the three natural villages add up to flying 8 round trips a day." Yang Jun said that the maximum load of this drone is 15 kilograms, and we send small pieces, such as snacks, clothing, cosmetics, etc., and are expected to deliver about 50 to 80 pieces per day; as for some large pieces, they are still sent to the village by courier truck.
Similarly, villagers can send couriers via drones. As long as the reservation is made in advance, the package to be sent is loaded into the drone container and reported to the operation dispatch center, and the operation dispatch center will remotely control the drone to fly back to the express station along the preset route.
It is understood that at present, "China's private express delivery town" Tonglu 181 administrative villages have all built "express delivery stations", the next step, Tonglu's goal is to open up more "UAV routes", and carry out professional UAV skills training, to create a national UAV skills talent output base, open the UAV delivery market, to help express delivery "flying" into the natural village.
"Taking Tonglu as a pilot, once the drone distribution model matures, we plan to implement it nationwide." Not only limited to mountainous areas, in cities, drone express delivery, medical emergency transportation; in rural areas, fresh distribution of agricultural products and so on. Yang Jun said.
Correspondent Zhang Xin He Peixin