(Credit: Video screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET Australia)
If you just ordered a book from textbook rental start-up Zookal, look skyward.
Zookal has partnered with aerial-technology startup Flirtey (a joint venture between Zookal and Vimbra) to start delivering its packages to customers via unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as of next year. The technology they’re using, the companies say, was previously only available to the military and to universities.
As of March 2014, customers within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of Sydney’s central business district will be able to arrange free delivery by air from one of six hexacopters. They will have to order delivery to an outdoor area, and the drone will find the customer based on GPS coordinates sent from an Android app (an iOS app will be built after the program is launched). The UAV will hover over the location and lower the textbooks on a retractable cable, allowing the customer to detach the parcel and the drone to be on its way. The entire process could take as little as two or three minutes.
If the customer isn’t there, the textbooks won’t be lowered; the customer will have to hit a button on the app to lower the parcel. The drone will wait a short time for the command before flying away, and delivery will have to be rescheduled.
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