Jane Edwards
The U.S. Postal Service has issued a request for information to seek potential sources of unmanned aircraft systems that can be used in mail delivery and data collection.
A FedBizOpps notice posted Monday says Federal Aviation Administration rules will apply to the operation of drones, which will support Postal Service missions including remote delivery, long-driveway delivery, ride sharing and infrastructure as a service.
Under a potential solicitation, USPS plans to work with UAS developers and operators that can supply drones that can be used to deliver packages and gather visual and geospatial data.
“Additionally, other data collection objectives include sensor data to create useful three dimensional mapping for use in autonomous vehicle initiatives, and the Postal Service’s facility and land management,†USPS said in the RFI.
The agency listed specific objectives for the potential UAS tech program, including secure control data communication protocols; human and machine interaction and maps; collision recovery algorithms; and UAS detect and avoidance sensors.
Responses to the RFI are due Nov. 4.
