Will drones play a leading role in future food delivery? KDDI and JR East will demonstrate for the first time in Tokyo

A future where food is delivered by drones is starting to become a reality.

Ordered lunch in an urban park. Then, it was a drone that "delivered" from several hundred meters away... Efforts were made to realize such a scene. [See all images] Will drones play a leading role in future food delivery? First demonstration by KDDI and JR East in Tokyo On November 20, East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and KDDI conducted a food delivery demonstration experiment in a manned area using drones in Waters Takeshiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo. . The content of the experiment was to have general consumers solicited in advance go to the outdoor plaza in Waters Takeshiba and deliver meals from nearby restaurants by drone. On the day of the event, an experiment was carried out to transport meals to two types: the landing point in the outdoor plaza, which is 50 meters away from the port on the premises, and the water bus landing point at Hamarikyu, which is 700 meters away. The former has been published.

Sci-fi feeling of drones flying over commercial facilities and delivering meals

Blessed with good weather on the day, the experiment proceeded smoothly. At the starting point, a box of food from the restaurant will be attached to the drone, which will be checked for safety before leaving. The drone then flies for a few minutes and lands at a destination marked with a 2D code similar to the starting point. The staff waiting at the landing point takes out the meal from the drone and presents it to the customer. After that, the final arrangement is done and served. The point of the food delivery demonstration by drone is that it will be the first time in Tokyo to fly a drone to a manned area to carry packages. Waters Takeshiba is a complex facility consisting of JR East's "Atre Takeshiba", the same group's hotel "Mesm Tokyo", and "Shiki Theater". It's a commercial area. In such a place, the appearance of a large drone with a total length of 1.2m (1173mm) and a height of 52cm (526mm) flying was quite science fiction. The sound of the propellers certainly bothered me when I watched it up close, but the general customers selected by lottery went out to eat, including "watching the drone", and that extraordinary feeling is one entertainment element. It was.

Yutaro Kobayashi