Flying Food: Prize for Drone Delivery

The online home delivery service Aha.is was yesterday awarded the SA Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise prize for the environmental initiative of the year Morgunblaðið reports. The main reason: drone delivery, which reduces traffic and pollution. Being able to offer this option is the result of a series of experiments done by Maron Kristófersson and Helgi Már Þórðarson, founders of Aha.is. The company first offered drone delivery in 2018, and among other things, it delivers orders from restaurants.

Environmental issues have long been at the forefront for the company: all their cars are electric, and in the field of drone delivery, they’re quite advanced on a global scale. The company has been cooperating with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Boeing, and others regarding ways to create models of how drone flight could function in Europe.

That process has now become quite sophisticated. The latest drones the company received are entirely autonomous and able to take the shortest and safest route to the customer. People who reside within a certain radius from the company headquarters in the capital region are now able to order a drone delivery, and efforts are underway to reach more homes. You can, for example, order a meal from a restaurant and have it delivered.

At the delivery point, the order is lowered in a string and lands in the customer’s yard. Should something go wrong, a parachute is activated, making the drone glide to the ground.

The drones fly at a height of 70 meters (230 ft) and deliver from a height of 25 meters (82 ft). Drone delivery not only reduces pollution, but saves time as well. That way, the meal ordered stays warm.

Since the drones are not yet rainproof certified, they are not being used when it rains. Therefore, Aha.is still delivers 97 percent of its orders by car.

To watch a drone delivery, see here .