Amidst all the news about autonomous taxis for local urban transportation, is the even faster-growing applications for unmanned aircraft—cargo delivery; an area of unmanned aircraft that has a much clearer path to implementation.
The concepts for UCAs go far beyond local package delivery from “big-box stores” to the customer’s driveway. The idea is full-sized aircraft carrying hundreds or thousands of pounds of freight.
This is the focus of the Platform for Unmanned Cargo Aircraft Conference, later this year in Amsterdam. The freight transportation costs could be significantly less than using UCA. Since the aircraft does not have to be equipped to support a crew, it does not require life support systems. This makes the aircraft much less expensive to build and cheaper to fly.
The PUCA intends to “do for material goods what the Internet did for immaterial goods: create a dense, adaptable network for moving goods so that each small company or even individual can become his or her own shipper.”