News & Press Release
Abalone and turban shellfish from Genkaijima Island transported by drones, with orders and payments made via LINE
Conducting Verification Test Aiming to Realize a Drone Delivery Service
First time in Japan to fly 2 routes simultaneously outside visual line of sight without an assistant
Aviation >Weathernews Inc. (Head Office: Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi; CEO: Chihito Kusabiraki), ANA HOLDINGS INC. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President/CEO: Shinya Katanozaka, hereinafter “ANAHD”), LINE Fukuoka Corporation (Head Office: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; President/CEO: Noritaka Ochiai, hereinafter “LINE Fukuoka”), Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory Ltd. (Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture; President: Hiroaki Ota, hereinafter “ACSL”), and NTT DOCOMO, INC. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President/CEO: Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, hereinafter “DOCOMO”) conducted a verification test aiming to realize a delivery service using small unmanned aerial vehicles (hereinafter “drones”). The test was being conducted with the kind cooperation of Fukuoka City, with the goal being to transport seafood products ordered via LINE by drones flying two routes: between Genkaijima Island, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka City and ZAUO Restaurant Main Branch (Nishi-ku, Fukuoka City), and between Genkaijima Island and Nokonoshima Camp Ground.
- Verification Test Schedule
Tuesday, July 30th ~ Friday, August 2nd, 2019
* Public viewing was at ZAUO Restaurant Main Branch, on August 1st only.
- Transported Goods
Genkaijima seafood products (abalone and turban shellfish) were transported from Genkaijima Island.
- Flight Path
Genkaijima Heliport, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture ~ ZAUO Restaurant Main Branch, Kota, Nishi-ku / sand beach adjacent to Nokonoshima Camp Ground, Nishi-ku
| ANAHD | Drone operation control (the representative business operator for this verification test) |
| Weathernews | Weather information support (*1) and provision of flight position data (*2) for manned aircraft (helicopter) monitoring |
| LINE Fukuoka | Providing ordering/payment functions for the distribution of goods |
| ACSL | Providing aircraft and flight operations support |
| DOCOMO | Providing LTE network related to aerial drone flights and support for formulating flight plans taking aerial radio wave conditions into account using the operational support platform of docomo sky™ * “docomo sky” is a trademark of NTT DOCOMO, INC. |
| Fukuoka City | Cooperation regarding the area subject to the verification test, coordination with related parties, etc. |
- Conceptual image of selecting/paying for products via LINE
The process for selecting products and making payments using the message app LINE is shown below.
