Wal-Mart seeks to test drones for home delivery, pickup(VIDEO) 美 월마트도 ‘드론 택배’...아마존•구글 이어 개발 경쟁 격렬

Wal-Mart seeks to test drones for home delivery, pickup

야외 비행 실험 허가 신청

A 'Phantom 2' drone by DJI company flies during the 4th Intergalactic Meeting of Phantom's Pilots

(MIPP) in an open secure area in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, in this March 16, 2014 file photo. 

Reuters/Charles Platiau/Files

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Google's Project Wing Delivery Drone Prototype

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케이콘텐츠 편집

   로이터 통신은 26일 미국 소매 대기업 월마트 스토어스가 소형무인기(드론)를 사용한 택배 사업의 참가를 목표로 미 연방항공국(FAA)에 야외 비행 실험의 허가를 신청했다고 보도했다.

IT 대기업 아마존닷컴과 구글 등도 같은 실험을 이미 시작했으며 개발 경쟁이 격렬해지고있다. 월마트 홍보 담당자는 로이터 통신에 “미 국민의 약 70%는 월마트 점포에서 5마일(약 8km) 이내에 살고 있다”고 말하며 서비스 전개에 자신을 보였다.

지금까지 수 개월간 당국의 신청이 필요 없는 실내 실험을 반복해 왔다. 허가가 나면 중국 DJI 회사 제품의 드론을 사용할 예정이라고 한다.

FAA는 상업용 이용을 위해 드론을 날릴 경우, 비행은 조종자가 볼 수 있는 권내에 한정하는 등 무인택배가 사실상 곤란한 규제안을 2월에 발표했다. 그러나 내년 6월에 나올 최종안에는 규제가 완화될 것이라는 기대가 강하다.[뉴욕 교도】

source news.yahoo.com

CHICAGO | By Nathan Layne 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc applied Monday to U.S. regulators for permission to test drones for home delivery, curbside pickup and checking warehouse inventories, a sign it plans to go head-to-head with Amazon in using drones to fill and deliver online orders. 

The world's largest retailer by revenue has for several months been conducting indoor tests of small unmanned aircraft systems – the term regulators use for drones - and is now seeking for the first time to test the machines outdoors. It plans to use drones manufactured by China's SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd. 

In addition to having drones take inventory of trailers outside its warehouses and perform other tasks aimed at making its distribution system more efficient, Wal-Mart is asking the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to research drone use in "deliveries to customers at Walmart facilities, as well as to consumer homes," according to a copy of the application reviewed by Reuters. 

The move comes as Amazon.com Inc, Google and other companies test drones in the expectation that the FAA will soon establish rules for their widespread commercial use. FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said in June that the agency expected to finalize regulations within the next 12 months, faster than previously planned. Commercial drone use is currently illegal, though companies can apply for exemptions.

The FAA will review Wal-Mart's petition to determine whether it is similar enough to earlier successful applications to be fast-tracked, or whether it would set a precedent for exemptions, requiring regulators to conduct a detailed risk analysis and seek public comment, agency spokesman Les Dorr said. The FAA normally aims to respond to such petitions in 120 days.Amazon has said it would be ready to begin delivering packages to customers via drones as soon as federal rules allow. 

Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Toporek said the company would move quickly to deploy drones depending on its tests and regulations. 

"Drones have a lot of potential to further connect our vast network of stores, distribution centers, fulfillment centers and transportation fleet," he said. "There is a Walmart within five miles of 70 percent of the U.S. population, which creates some unique and interesting possibilities for serving customers with drones." 

Finding ways to more efficiently warehouse, transport and deliver goods to customers has taken on new importance for Wal-Mart, which this month projected a surprise decline in earnings next year as it copes with costs to increase wages, beat back price competition and boost online sales. 

In the FAA application, Wal-Mart said it wanted to test drones for taking stock of trailers and other items in the parking lot of a warehouse using electronic tagging and other methods. A Wal-Mart distribution center could have hundreds of trailers waiting in its yard, and a drone could potentially be used to quickly account for what each one is holding. 

The retailer also wants to test drones for its grocery pickup service, which it has recently expanded to 23 markets with plans to add another 20 markets next year. The test flights would confirm whether a drone could deliver a package to a pick-up point in the parking lot of a store, the application says. 

Wal-Mart also said it wants to test home delivery in small residential neighborhoods after obtaining permission from those living in the flight path. The test would see if a drone could be deployed from a truck "to safely deliver a package at a home and then return safely to the same," the application says.

To date the FAA has approved more than 2,100 exemptions allowing for commercial drone testing and use. 

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Chicago and David Morgan in Washington, editing by Eric Effron and John Pickering)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/us-wal-mart-stores-drones-exclusive-idUSKCN0SK2IQ20151026

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