The hottest UAV distribution has entered a new sta

UAV distribution enters a new stage? Smart express tower may become a new focus of layout

UAV distribution enters a new stage? Smart express tower may become a new focus of layout

17:31 source://

original title: UAV distribution incoming value automatic shift, reset, data query and other functions enter a new stage? Smart express towers may become a new focus of layout

nowadays, not only is drone distribution driving great changes in the logistics industry, but the derivative of smart express towers is also expected to play a key role. Although Alibaba currently takes the lead, other players may not let it take the lead, and a new round of competition may begin quietly

in recent years, with the growth of materials in the scale of e-commerce and the increase of manpower and circulation costs, the logistics industry has begun to accelerate the unmanned and intelligent transformation, and the landing speed of smart logistics has accelerated. In this process, various scientific and technological products are increasingly integrated into the logistics field, especially the development of logistics UAV, which can be called a great change

for a long time, due to factors such as traffic conditions, the 6.11% rise in the share price of Suning yunshang, the transporter, and manpower allocation, logistics transportation and express delivery have faced the problem of "the last mile", and the improvement of distribution efficiency has become increasingly difficult. The application of unmanned aerial vehicles plays an important role in reducing labor costs and improving distribution efficiency in the logistics industry

as one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world, Amazon has been committed to using scientific and technological elements to promote the development of logistics automation. It has launched a multi-dimensional exploration of the application of UAVs in the logistics field, which can be described as the main driver of logistics UAVs to reality. In 2017, according to a public patent application information, Amazon designed a giant drone tower called "multi-level operation center" to provide relay services for drone distribution

for many e-commerce enterprises, their distribution scope covers not only urban areas, but also suburban areas. However, at this stage, the distribution centers of e-commerce enterprises are generally located in the suburbs, which is obviously a negative factor for the construction of UAV distribution service network. This design of Amazon is an attempt to create a new UAV operation center, so that UAVs can stop and pick up goods and distribute goods like bees, so as to provide customers with timely and efficient UAV distribution services

the patent application shows that the UAV distribution and operation center designed by Amazon is a tower shaped like a honeycomb, equipped with robots inside. Amazon's distribution drone can dock in the operation center and load the goods for the next distribution task. Moreover, the robot will also be responsible for the charging and maintenance of the UAV

in addition, the drone tower can not only serve as a relay point for logistics drones, but also connect to traditional freight trucks. If the tower is close to the water area, it can also dock with the cargo ship. In addition, this new type of operation center will also add a self-service area, where customers in need can go directly to pick up goods

now, similar ideas of unmanned aerial towers have become a reality in China. In June, 2018, tmall, a subsidiary of Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce giant, launched an end-user intelligent device, the rookie express tower. The tower is at the head of Alibaba Xixi Park, and then reappears again. It can not only dock with drones, but also with novice drones

it is understood that the height of the intelligent express tower is more than 5 meters, and the overall shape is octahedral, equipped with an automatic transmission system. The express tower has a large capacity, which can store parcels. One express tower can meet the logistics distribution needs of a mall, a community, an office building and even a campus. At the same time, the express tower also supports face recognition function, and consumers can directly pick up pieces by "brushing their faces"

it is reported that the express tower was jointly developed by rookie and Hangzhou Dongcheng electronics, has a number of national patents, and has been used in many places during the 618 event. In addition to package collection, Cainiao express tower can also be opened to all the last 100 meters of services, which can not only be used as a storage and pick-up point for convenient collection; It can also carry out new retail exploration to meet the needs of real-time warehousing and distribution

obviously, in the actual landing process, Alibaba has built an upgraded version of the "drone tower" according to its own layout and the actual situation of domestic logistics, so that it has more functions than serving as a drone distribution and operation center. With the rapid development of logistics drones and the improvement of drone distribution network, this kind of intelligent express tower may accelerate its popularity and become an important end component of smart logistics in the future

at present, Alibaba, jd.com and SF are not only powerful players developing logistics UAVs in China, but also other players such as Suning are actively following up. Focusing on the construction of UAV distribution ecological chain, intelligent express towers are expected to become a new hot spot for the layout of major giants. We will wait and see