Well, that didn’t take long. A week after telling Robotics Trends it will be carrying out home drone deliveries within a year, Flirtey just completed the first FAA-approved drone delivery to a home.

Flirtey partnered with 7-Eleven, in honor of the convenience store’s 89th birthday, completing two drone deliveries from a 7-Eleven in Reno, Nevada to a nearby home. The Flirtey drone autonomously delivered Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee and candy to the home of the family who placed the order.

The delivery was made “in the span of a few minutes,” and the Flirtey drone hovered in place and gently lowered each package to the ground in the family’s backyard.

“My wife and I both work and have three small children ages 7, 6 and 1. The convenience of having access to instant, 24/7 drone delivery is priceless,” said Reno resident Michael, who received the Flirtey delivery. “It’s amazing that a flying robot just delivered us food and drinks in a matter of minutes.”

Both Flirtey and 7-Eleven said plans are in the works to expand drone delivery tests and work closely together.

http://www.roboticstrends.com/article/slurpee_flies_home_in_first_faa_approved_drone_delivery

Flirtey said its historic drone deliveries to date "have been stepping stones to store-to-home drone delivery." Flirtey is currently in discussions with retailers and food companies about delivery to people's homes, and CEO Matt Sweeny said store-to-home drone deliveries will start sooner than most think.

"Within the next 12 months, Flirtey will be delivering packages from stores to people’s homes, commercially,” said Flirtey CEO and co-founder Matt Sweeny. “It will start incrementally and build up.”

For store-to-home deliveries to become the norm, however, regulations have to catch up with the technology, Sweeny said. There are two FAA regulations, in particular, that need to be resolved: flying beyond visual line of sight (VLOS) and flying over populated areas. Sweeny said the FAA’s logic behind VLOS is to ensure the drones can give right-of-way to manned aircraft. A visual observer, for example, would see the commercial aircraft and fly the drone out of the way. Eventually, on-board technology will take care of all that. Flirtey has able to get around both those regulations in its deliveries to date.

http://www.roboticstrends.com/article/flirtey_drone_delivery_to_homes_will_start_in_next_year