[ad_1]
Leading Japanese and Chinese e-commerce companies, Rakuten Inc. and JD.com Inc., announced on Thursday that they would create and market an unmanned delivery service in Japan to save time, costs and money. and the labor required to transport parcels following the explosive growth of online shopping.
Rakuten will use unmanned drones and unmanned ground vehicles from JD.com, which the Chinese company is already operating in the commercial services sector in its home country as it prepares to introduce self-delivery in Japan.
The Tokyo-based company has been conducting experiments and testing services for autonomous parcel delivery since 2016 as an effective solution to the "last mile" problem of reducing shipping time and shipping costs. transport centers at the doors of consumers.
JD.com, also known as Jingdong, launched the first commercial UAV delivery in the world in 2016 in China and aims to extend its service abroad.
JD.com vice president, Xiao Jun, said there were "many opportunities" in Japan for drone deliveries in mountainous areas and isolated islands.
"UAVs and unmanned vehicles are just the first step in the Japanese market and we want to cooperate with other leading Japanese companies in the development and application of products," he said. at a press conference in Tokyo.
The JD.com drone to be introduced by Rakuten is 160 cm wide and 60 cm high, weighs 5 kilograms and can travel 16 km. The unmanned land vehicle, 171 cm long, 75 cm wide and 160 cm high, has a top speed of 15 km per hour.
Rakuten announced last month that he planned to deliver experimental goods purchased by drones during the exercise beginning in April.
The government relaxed the rules on unmanned drone deliveries last September, allowing flights out of the line of sight of an operator.
Japan Post Co. began testing drone deliveries between its two post offices in Fukushima Prefecture in November.
Source link
