Envision a delivery service that’s driverless and instant – shipping an order straight to your doorstep in a matter of minutes – without wheels.

What’s behind the process? Drones.

Bay Area startup Zipline is commercializing drone delivery with their latest drone known as Platform 2. Hovering 300 feet above the ground, the drone releases a droid inside to drop off the delivery in a secure location.

Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita gets an inside look at how the technology is designed and automated with the question in mind: What will it take to revolutionize delivery services?

The NEXT Big Thing is the social companion to our big bold series NEXT.

To see the full NEXT episode: Drone delivery to reach new heights and speeds, click here.
You can read Akiko Fujita's article: Drone delivery startup Zipline to expand package drop-off across the US, here.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Drone deliveries to your home are quickly becoming a reality, with new technology from Bay Area startup zipline that's received a rare FAA exemption to fly drones without human observers. Zipline's drone known as Platform 2 can travel within a 10-mile radius and carry up to eight pounds. A droid tethered to the aircraft makes the actual delivery.

KELLER CLIFFTON: We're lowering this, we call the Droid, the Droid is what's controlling its position in x and y-axis, and then delivering in a very, very precise, gentle, and silent way, directly to a customer's home.

AKIKO FUJITA: Think restaurants, retail stores, and even hospitals, getting access to these delivery portals.

KELLER CLIFFTON: This is 24 donuts that we can actually load here, if you like. And we can close this. You click a button on an iPad, and it's automatically shipped.

AKIKO FUJITA: A delivery service that's fully autonomous. Zipline's Platform 2 might just take instant delivery to a whole new level.

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