Residents of San Mateo and Contra Costa counties can now sign up to participate in trials of drone delivery service to their backyards.
San Bruno-based Dive Delivery has obtained permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to perform deliveries. The process uses off-the-shelf drones equipped with drop mechanisms to conduct visual line of sight deliveries to residential backyards.
“The drone takes off from a predefined location via an automated waypoint mission, flies to the backyard of the residential customer, lowers into the marked location, automatically releases the package and returns to the launch location via the same flight path,” the company said.
The company is starting off with deliveries of KN95 masks and a bottle of hand sanitizer, but will update offerings as new vendors sign up and lifting capacity increases.
To sign up to take part in the trials, click here. After you’ve been pre-screened, an FAA certified drone pilot will be sent out to first conduct a test flight without any cargo. After a successful test, the pilot will affix a lightweight package to the drone and conduct the actual delivery drop flight. Customers will be notified before and immediately after the operation to ensure they do not walk under the drone at any time.
Dive Delivery said it collects video as drones descend into drop locations for “internal development and delivery confirmation purposes.” Residents can request that video not be collected during or after the sign up process, the company added. Flights are conducted using an Avision App, an iOS application typically installed on an iPad.
For more information, go here.
Photo credit: Dive Delivery
