7-Eleven partnered with drone start-up Flirtey for the delivery, which the companies said was the first time a drone has legally delivered a package to a U.S. resident who placed an order from a retailer.
The order consisted of a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee, Slurpees and candy, that were packed into a purpose-built container and carried autonomously by a Flirtey drone across two separate deliveries to a customer’s home.
The drone flew autonomously from the 7-Eleven store in Reno on July 11 to the family’s house using GPS.
The drone flew for one mile then hovered over the property and slowly lowered the package into the backyard using a rope, with the delivery taking place over just a few minutes.
Flirtey and 7-Eleven have the freedom to continue testing autonomous drone technology in the real-world, all while helping familiarise more people with the concept of delivery by flying robot.
In related news, Amazon has started testing drone delivery in the UK. It has received permission from the UK government to test the technology, which could enable it to make deliveries within 30 minutes.
