[July 13 Xinhua News]Meituan, which develops life-related services such as food delivery services in China, developed its own at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) held in Shanghai on the 8th. A small unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) was unveiled for the first time. It also signed a cooperation agreement with the district government to establish China's first urban low-altitude logistics operation model center in Jinshan District, the city.
Earlier this year, the company launched a drone delivery service targeting actual users for the first time in Shenzhen, Guangdong. In addition, as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus, an "air route" for the transportation of goods was opened in Minamiyama Ward of the city, and emergency supplies were delivered to residents in the quarantine area. By June of this year, the company's drones have completed more than 200,000 test flights and delivered over 2,500 deliveries.
The company started searching for a delivery service using drones in 2017, and is focusing on building a low-altitude drone logistics network that "delivers 3 kilometers in 15 minutes." The research and development of autonomous flying drones, automated airports, and drone adjustment systems have already been almost completed, and more than 90% of the core system components are developed in-house. (c)Xinhua News/AFPBB News