New Delhi: Food delivery and restaurant search tech firm Zomato has successfully tested its hybrid drone technology for delivering food. It has been reported that the hybrid drone covered a distance of five km in about 10 minutes with a maximum speed of 80 km per hour to deliver a food packet.

The Gurugram based corporation aspires to cut the average food delivery time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes by employing aerial routes. The hybrid drone that was tested had a fusion of rotary wings and fixed wings and carried a payload of five kg. The current drone test suggested that it was remotely tested under private supervision to ensure safety. 

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Zomato has also acquired TechEagle, a Lucknow based drone start-up, to counter pollution and traffic issues. It aims to operate drones for quick delivery keeping in mind the increased congestion on roads in metropolitan cities. 

According to Zomato, the drone is lightweight, with inbuilt sensors and an onboard computer to sense and avoid static as well as dynamic objects. This would ensure efficiency for autonomous flights. The drone does not require any landing strip and is able to take-off and land vertically.

Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO, Zomato, said, “While regulatory hurdles are not trivial, and the government’s concerns need to be looked at from various (valid) points of view, the tech is ready to fly and I am confident that drone delivery will be commonplace sooner rather than later.”