Home delivery by drones being tested in Hungary

DODO, a company providing data-driven logistics solutions, has launched a unique pilot project in Hungary in cooperation with the chemist’s shop chain Rossmann. They started the first stage of the multi-phase project recently, experimenting with drone home delivery, in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

According to Károly Sáfár, DODO’s representative in Hungary, using drones for delivering packages will be a significant advancement in the development of home delivery options.

As portfolio.hu writes, during the first phase,

they will be testing how quickly they can fulfill orders using drones – while ensuring safe delivery conditions.

The first steps

The first steps of the experiment were also reported by index.hu, citing a press release sent to their editorial office. As they write, the first test flight was launched from the Rossmann shop in the Savoya Park shopping centre in district XI. The destination was a suburban area in District III.

The two districts are quite far from each other. This was an intentional decision by the testers, who wanted to experiment with the drone using a fairly long route. The drone flew more than 15 kilometres, and part of the flight was carried out above the Danube. Flying over the Danube was necessary because they wanted to test it in a variety of geographical settings in order to prepare

for the wide variety of future air transport options,

adds index.hu.

Rossmann has also published a video in which you can have a look at the drones used in the test.

The drone’s speed and its regulations

The drone did not deliver a parcel during the simulation, however, it was not required to get accurate results, according to the press release. At an average altitude of 20 metres, the drone took 14 minutes to fly the distance, with an average speed of 50 kilometres per hour.

They point out that unmanned aerial vehicle systems are only allowed to be used in accordance with strict regulations. Moreover, they note, the activity requires a special authorisation. As they write, all the necessary official authorisations for their test flights have been obtained.

This time, though, the drone was travelling at 50 kilometres per hour,

the device’s flight speed is expected to be regulated by law in the future.

As a next step in the testing, the drone will now also deliver a parcel from the launch point to the destination.

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Source: index.hu, portfolio.hu