Singapore has carried out the world's first point-to-point postal delivery by drone SingPost and IDA 
Singapore has successfully performed the world's first delivery of
mail by drone, conducting a test flight carrying a letter and a parcel
with a T-shirt, which crossing from one island to another.
While there have been other similar postal-delivery-by-drone trials
conducted by DHL in Germany, Swiss Post in Switzerland and the Posti
Group in Finland, Singapore Post (SingPost) claims that this is the
first time that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been used for
point-to-point recipient-authenticated mail delivery.
The drone took off from Lorong Halus, a wetland area on the eastern
bank of Serangoon Reservoir on mainland Singapore, and flew 2km to the
delivery location within just five minutes across open water to Pulau
Ubin, one of Singapore's 60 offshore islands, preserved as a rural area
of beauty.
The SingPost Alpha Drone
The SingPost Alpha Drone was built by SingPost in collaboration with
IDA Labs, the research arm of the government agency Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore (IDA).
It can carry a payload weighing up to 500g and travel a maximum
distance of 2.3km, but it cannot fly any higher than 45m, which is far
below the maximum height of 400m established by civil aviation
authorities in Europe and the US.
A map showing the flight path taken by the Alpha drone to make its first ever mail deliverySingPost and IDA
The drone uses technology from the open source Pixhawk Steadidrone
platformtogether with a new experimental delivery platform developed by
SingPost and tied to a mobile app.
"This drone technology is tailored for use in dense urban landscapes.
It is energy-efficient and reduces carbon footprint as it is fully
battery-operated," said Dr Bernard Leong, head of digital services at
SingPost.
"We have developed a customised solution app equipped with security
features and authentication functions to ensure that mail and packages
are delivered to the intended recipient. Through this app, users will be
able to select their preferred delivery date and time to suit their
schedules."
Still a way to go before drone deliveries take off
Drone delivery might sound very exciting, but realistically even
Singapore, which is known for its early adoption of emerging
technologies, admits that it will be some time before UAVs become a
regular sight in the sky.
"Although it will be a while before it is viable for drone mail
delivery to take off in Singapore, taking into consideration commercial
and safety factors; this first step by SingPost and IDA demonstrates
what Singapore is trying out with our Smart Nation vision – to have the
various parts of our ecosystem collaborate, experiment with new ways of
doing things, and in the process, literally aim for the sky with new
technology," said Jacqueline Poh, managing director of IDA.
Drone guidelines set out by the Civil Aviation Authority of
Singapore, following the passing of the Unmanned Aircraft (Public Safety
and Security) Bill in August 2015CAAS
Singapore allows anyone to fly drones within their line of sight, but
commercial users must obtain an operator permit and an activity permit,
following the passing of the Unmanned Aircraft (Public Safety and
Security) Bill in August. Even recreational users are required to apply
for an activity permit if they choose to fly the UAV outdoors, but no
permit is required if the drone is flown indoors or in an area not
affecting the general public.
The Singapore government is keen to push the use of drones in order
to ease manpower constraints in the country. In February, local
restaurant chain Timbre Group made international news for trialling
drone waiters to help deliver food from its kitchens.
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