Flirtey has unveiled a new delivery drone, the Flirtey Eagle, with the company expecting customer deliveries to begin in 2019.
The company has released the first video of its delivery drone making consumer and automated external defibrillator (AED) deliveries to customer homes.
According to Matthew Sweeny, Flirtey’s founder and CEO, the new drone is designed to “safely get packages to customers with the delivery goal of less than 10 minutes.”
Along with the introduction of the drone, Flirtey also unveiled the Flirtey Portal, a takeoff and landing platform that fits into one parking space, making it easily scalable to the company’s partners for store-to-door delivery.
The company also introduced an autonomous software platform, which has received FAA approval for the first multi-drone delivery operation in the United States. This software platform enables a single remote pilot to simultaneously oversee 10 Flirtey drones, company officials note.
According to company officials:
- Flirtey’s drone is designed to operate in 95% of wind and weather conditions
- “If it fits, it flies.” The Flirtey Eagle is designed to fit 75% of packages that get delivered to its customers’ homes during last-mile deliveries
- The Flirtey Eagle delivers its contents by lowering a tether, while the drone is suspended in air, and once the package is delivered, it then retracts the tether
Flirtey’s regulatory approvals include:
- Approval to conduct multi-drone delivery operations, enabling a single remote pilot to simultaneously oversee 10 Flirtey drones
- Approval to conduct drone delivery flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), enabling Flirtey to conduct drone delivery operations with a pilot controlling the flights from a remote location
- Approval to conduct drone delivery flights at night