UPS testing drones for use in its package delivery system
MARBLEHEAD, Mass. - One of the world’s largest package delivery companies is stepping up efforts to integrate drones into its system.
Atlanta-based UPS (UPS) has partnered with Danvers, Massachusetts-based robot-maker CyPhy Works to test the use of drones to make commercial deliveries to remote or difficult-to-access locations.
The companies began testing the drones Thursday, launching one from the Massachusetts seaside town of Marblehead. The drone successfully flew on a programmed route for 3 miles over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver an inhaler at Children’s Island.
It’s not all clear skies for drones, though. Newly revised federal aviation regulations don’t permit commercial drones to fly over people not involved in their operations and require them to remain within line of sight of their operators, effectively rendering commercial deliveries impossible. Drone-makers are working with regulators to tweak existing rules.