Got mail to deliver? These are the drones you’re looking for
The drone delivered a letter and a T-shirt in a packet from Lorong Halus to Pulau Ubin. Photo: SingPost
SINGAPORE — Drones serving as postmen could become a reality here, if a successful trial by SingPost and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is any indication.
The trial on Sept 25 saw a letter and a T-shirt in a packet delivered from Lorong Halus to Pulau Ubin by an unmanned aerial vehicle. The 2km trip took about five minutes.
SingPost said today (Oct 8) the drone test marked the first time a postal service in the world had successfully used an unmanned aerial vehicle for “point-to-point recipient-authenticated mail delivery”.
While postal services in Switzerland and France have carried out similar trials, they do not have a secure authentication function as yet, said a SingPost spokesman.
To ensure that the package reaches the intended recipient, the drone is equipped with enhanced safety features, and is complemented with a prototype mobile app designed with security and verification features.
For instance, the mail route is programmed and a recipient is assigned in the system. Upon reaching the delivery point, the recipient will have to verify his identity through the mobile app. If the authentication fails or is not sent from the phone to the drone within three minutes, the drone will fly back to its original location.
Built using the Pixhawk Steadidrone platform by IDA Labs, the drone is equipped with a parachute to ensure a soft landing and a GPS system for tracking purposes.
A manual override is also possible if the drone veers off course.
IDA’s managing director Jacqueline Poh said: “The successful conclusion of this trial shows how SingPost is thinking out of the box and its willingness to expand its traditional mail delivery model in innovative ways.”
One benefit of drone delivery is that it can save time in delivering mail.
For instance, a 73-year-old postman serving the Pulau Ubin area currently delivers about 40 letters a day.
To get to the island, he has to wait for the bumboat to fill up with enough passengers before it can depart from Changi Ferry Terminal. On slow days, when there are fewer people going to the island, the wait can take up to half an hour.
The drone can carry a load of up to 0.5kg, fly at a height of up to 45m and travel over a distance of 2.3km.
Dr Bernard Leong, SingPost’s head of digital services, said drone technology offers “immense potential” in meeting the booming growth of e-commerce delivery.
The e-commerce market in the Asia-Pacific is expected to reach US$175 billion (S$247 billion) by next year. For now, SingPost says that it has no concrete plans for the commercialisation of drone deliveries.
When asked if such drone deliveries would replace the postman’s role, a SingPost spokesperson said: “Our postmen will continue to be instrumental in terms of last-mile delivery, while robotics do the heavy-lifting ... As our business transforms, the role of our postmen will also evolve over time.”
The SingPost drone test was conducted with the cooperation of various government agencies, such as the Ministry of Transport, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, and Republic of Singapore Air Force.
