US Mail to deliver to smart drone mailbox in Indiana

Come Monday, August 8, and a drone delivery mailbox located in a suburb of Indianapolis will create history by accepting traditional posts from US Mail. That delivery will be followed by McDonald’s delivering Big Mac and french fries to the same mailbox through a drone.

The US Mail postal delivery is part of a pilot project involving Dronedek smart drone mailboxes in Lawrence. The mailbox that will receive both traditional mail and a food order delivered by a drone is located on the premises of Schneider Geospatial at 8901 Otis Ave.

Dronedek smart drone mailboxes are powered by Oracle. The company uses a platform-agnostic approach to consolidate and funnel deliveries (and pickups) from all carriers, couriers, and logistics services to GPS-verified locations. Dronedek is in talks with several national delivery services, including UberEats, DoorDash, and other major retail delivery companies, to cater to its next-gen mailbox.

Dan O’Toole, founder and CEO of Dronedek, says:

We’re showcasing how this mailbox is ready right now for traditional delivery and what it can do in the near future when federal regulations are relaxed to enable autonomous delivery. We’re also marking the start of secure autonomous package delivery. It’s historic.

Read: FAA’s Remote ID rule for drones is constitutional, DC court rules

Jeff Corns, CEO of Schneider Geospatial, is convinced it won’t be long before Dronedek mailboxes become routine. Corns says:

Robotic delivery at Purdue University was a novelty when that began, and now, no one even thinks about sharing the sidewalk with those devices. The pandemic really increased consumer demand for delivery, and consumers want faster, more secure ways of getting their products. Dronedek solves for that in a really cool way.

Equally buoyant about this project is Eric Moore who works at the McDonald’s franchise and will be preparing the Big Mac and french fries order on August 8. Here’s Moore:

McDonald’s French fries are the best and we are excited to watch this new delivery option. Dronedek’s climate-controlled mailbox is a game-changer. We can’t wait to see Dronedeks become a delivery option for everyone everywhere.

Read: Boots becomes first UK pharmacy to complete drone delivery of prescription medicines