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Australia Post to Trial Drone Delivery

Government-owned Australia Post has announced its plans to trial the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) — or drones — to deliver small parcels around the country.

According to the postal service, the closed-field trial, which is slated for later this year, is an important next step in testing the new technology which it hopes will result in the faster transportation of time critical items like medication, as well as simply keeping the online shopper happy.

Australia Post managing director and CEO Ahmed Fahour let slip last month his interest in using drones to deliver parcels in rural Australia, saying when a driver stops at the farm gate of a property they could use a drone to deliver the mail to the door of the farmhouse, rather than complete the trip up an often long driveway.

“We’re excited to be the first major parcels and logistics company in Australia to test RPA technology for commercial delivery applications,” Fahour said in a statement Friday.

“We will put this innovative technology through its paces over the coming weeks and months to understand what it can deliver, how far it can travel, and ultimately, how our customers could receive a parcel.

“RPA technology will continue to evolve over the coming years and while we’re not sure what role it will play in our future, we do think there are opportunities for time-critical deliveries or where there are significant distances between the road and front door.”

Australia Post said it is working closely with Melbourne-based startup ARI Labs, the developers of the proprietary technology, to demonstrate the reliability and applications of the technology.

In the past, ARI Labs developed and manufactured drones for airfield sensor calibration for the Australian Government Department of Defence Maritime Surveillance Management and Target Systems SPO.