UPS has unveiled its plan for delivery drones: build them right into trucks, and launch them at various points along their route.
The delivery company ran an initial test on Monday, when it claims to have successfully launched a drone from the top of a truck, let it autonomously deliver a package, and then return to the truck at a different location.
While that test might have been successful, UPS’s system is still far from being ready for delivery.
Reports claim that a second test of the drone failed, with the drone aborting its own launch, falling over, and almost getting crushed.
But the technology is advancing industry-wide, and the regulatory situation is being pushed forward, however slowly, by companies’ desire to put drones to work. Amazon has been the most public about its plans to use delivery drones and even started testing them last year.
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