Since Domino’s has mastered unmanned aerial pizza delivery and Chipotle is aviating burritos, humans can move on to the really important stuff, like finally pioneering drones that drop off … fro-yo? Orange Leaf, the self-serve frozen-yogurt chain, says it’s been “experimenting” with FAA-approved commercial airborne deliveries and is finally ready to send dairy-couriering robots up into America’s skies. According to a press release, the chain picked Hope College in Michigan for the pilot program because “Millennials are an important target audience,” and they “are interested in emerging technologies that also offer convenience.” Students on campus with enough foresight to order fro-yo “by appointment only” can use so-called Project Flying Orange Unicorn to get their scoop of toffee with cheesecake cubes and gummy bears or whatever flown over to them in this contraption:
Deliveries use “modified” to-go boxes that contain frozen packing materials developed specifically for this occasion, which solves approximately one-half of the potential problems facing foods delivered by drone. The sheer size of this robot is a reminder that the public, however hungry, still probably hasn’t grasped the gravity of drone delivery yet (these things have removed portions of bystanders’ noses, people!). To perhaps aid in that, here’s footage Orange Leaf shot of what to expect when fro-yo arrives for the handoff. Loss of body parts aside, when that hexacopter arrives overhead, it’s not exactly a pleasant hum:
