Image: DoorDash
US delivery platform DoorDash is adding its own aircraft to a delivery network that already combines human couriers, ground robots and third-party drone operators.
The company has unveiled the six-propeller aircraft as part of its DoorDash Air programme. Initial pilot deliveries are planned in Northern California with Chipotle, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and local restaurant Momo N Curry.
The aircraft is the latest step in DoorDash’s decision to bring more of its autonomous delivery operation in-house. Earlier this year, the company received Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 certification to operate commercial drone deliveries in the US. It had previously relied on partners including Wing and Flytrex for drone operations.
DoorDash says it designed the delivery system around restaurant operations before developing the aircraft itself.
“We didn’t start with a drone and ask what would fit,” said Harrison Shih, Head of DoorDash Air. “We started with what people order and how local businesses actually operate.”
That includes loading systems, packaging and the handoff between a restaurant kitchen and the aircraft. DoorDash says it is developing several loading options designed to fit into existing business operations.
The aircraft was also designed around the orders already moving through DoorDash’s marketplace. The company estimates that about 80% of typical US restaurant orders are small and light enough for the aircraft to carry, although it notes that the figure is based on a limited sample.
DoorDash’s Autonomous Delivery Platform (ADP) will decide which orders should be sent by drone. The software considers factors including the order’s weight, distance, weather and flight range, alongside the availability of other delivery options.
The system already coordinates DoorDash’s human couriers and Dot, its autonomous ground delivery robot, as well as third-party autonomous delivery partners.
The new aircraft uses six slow-spinning propellers and a winch for picking up and lowering orders. DoorDash says initial tests produced average delivery times of under five minutes from restaurant to customer, although the estimate covers a limited sample of short-distance deliveries and is not a guaranteed service time.
The company’s approach builds on a broader push to use autonomy across its delivery network. DoorDash said in July that orders travelling three to five miles took almost 25% longer on average than shorter trips, partly because of the time required to match them with a courier.
The Northern California pilots will test how DoorDash’s own aircraft, restaurant infrastructure and automated delivery platform work together alongside its existing delivery options.
