Detroit drone delivery testing starts in Corktown

Urban drone testing in Detroit

The Detroit Smart Parking Lab is one of the first drone cargo delivery testing platforms - and it is in Corktown.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - It’s a story straight out of the future - the Detroit Smart Parking Lab ribbon cutting and launch of the Urban Drone Test Platform, all bundled into one.

The backstory:

The  Detroit Smart Parking Lab from Bedrock is in Corktown - they say it’s one of the first drone cargo delivery testing platforms meant to be used in a dense urban setting.

The idea is moving cargo in the last mile of delivery using drones starting from a rooftop — straight to you.

Kevin Mull from Bedrock stopped by to explain it on Thursday.

"We think that there's tremendous opportunity for advanced air mobility here ... and we're part of a large ecosystem of companies and agencies working to promote that capability," he said. "Here at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab, we've been operating for about four years looking at ground-based mobility innovation.

"Today is the first day that we're taking it to the sky and working on air mobility."

One demonstration was made with a sunflower drone, which is a public safety drone.

"This is a fully autonomous drone, so it flies on a pre-programmed route," Mull said. "It lives in this enclosure over here called the beehive. And it will sit up here persistently, and we'll be able to control that drone from any of our offices when we want to get it up in the air."

Regulation talk and questions are swirling about aerial mobility,  especially with airspace rights that may have to be acquired to move in such a dense space like a city.

Mull said those discussions have begun, but it is early.

"That's really what the lab here is about," he said. "We think we're fairly unique in having this kind of a platform in a dense urban environment. And we're looking to have those conversations with those that are working with the government to try to establish those rules and protocols, and then with commercial entities, delivery platforms."

Check out Bedestrian's  B1 Drone. If it's delivered from the sky, potentially it could then, in the last mile, then make its way to a residence or business using it.

"That's really the focus," Mull said. "We like to say that we're focused from the rooftop to the ground. So we want to be able to land a package and then autonomously move it to its final destination, whether it's one of our commercial office tenants. 

"Or maybe, someone in one of hotels or maybe have one of the retailers take it from the ground to the roof, and then take it out to delivery to a customer in a neighborhood."  

About 875,000 drones were used to deliver packages all across the world in 2022, so this is the future.