Drone delivery startup Flirtey has launched a new delivery drone, the Flirtey Eagle. The company has released footage of the drone performing automated defibrillator deliveries to homes.
Read more: Drone Delivery Company Flirtey tests delivery of Automated External Defibrillators
At the same time, Flirtey has launched Flirtey Portal, a take-off and landing platform designed to enable scalable store-to-door operations, which works with a separate software platform to automate home deliveries.
Flirtey has been operating in Reno, Nevada as part of the FAA’s Drone Integration Pilot Program. The company first made waves in 2015 with a pioneering drone delivery and has since gone on to achieve a number of industry milestones: completing an autonomous domestic drone delivery; launching a commercial drone delivery service, and launching an aerial defibrillator delivery service in the U.S.
Flirtey has worked alongside NASA, the City of Reno, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, emergency medical services provider REMSA, and various commercial partners.
Aiming to become the industry standard
On the launch of the new commercial platform, Flirtey’s Founder and CEO, Matthew Sweeny said, “We are thrilled to now reveal Flirtey’s industry-leading technology to the world. We expect Flirtey’s advanced drone delivery system will become the industry standard in America.
Flirtey’s technology has unique capabilities unavailable from any other aircraft manufacturer to enable first-movers to capture market share in their industries. Flirtey’s latest technology makes life-saving and commercial drone delivery to homes in the United States an imminent reality.”
A closer look at the Flirtey Eagle
Flirtey’s new system is designed to operate at a local level and transport packages to customers in less than 10 minutes.
The new drone, landing platform and software combine for a service that can:
- Operate in 95% of wind and weather conditions, making it highly reliable for flight
- Fit 75% of packages that get delivered to its customers’ homes during last-mile deliveries
- Safely and precisely deliver contents by lowering a tether while the drone hovers in place
- Be controlled by the company’s autonomous software platform, which has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for the first multi-drone delivery operation in the United States – enabling a single remote pilot to simultaneously oversee ten Flirtey drones
- Operate drone deliveries from the Flirtey Portal, a takeoff and landing platform that fits into one parking space
Flirtey’s current regulatory approvals include:
- Approval to conduct multi-drone delivery operations, enabling a single remote pilot to simultaneously oversee ten Flirtey drones
- Approval to conduct drone delivery flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS)
- Approval to conduct drone delivery flights at night, making drone delivery accessible at any time
Flirtey says plans are in place to conduct drone deliveries to U.S. homes as early as 2019, with a view to addressing what the company believes is a $100 billion global last-mile drone delivery market.
Malek Murison is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for tech trends and innovation. He handles product reviews, major releases and keeps an eye on the enthusiast market for DroneLife.
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[…] year, Flirtey launched a new delivery drone, the Flirtey Eagle, as well as Flirtey Portal, a take-off and landing platform designed to enable scalable […]