Drone brings glad tidings to students

A drone helps deliver college letters of acceptance in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Monday. PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY

An unmanned aerial drone with four college letters of acceptance in tow took flight from the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, around 11 am on Monday, a day marking the official airborne distribution of the first batch of such letters across the province.

Half an hour later, the letters arrived at a residential community in the city's Huangpu district and were immediately issued to upcoming freshmen, becoming the first such futuristic delivery across the province completed entirely by drones.

The innovative and efficient delivery method not only showcased technological innovation but also gave students a unique sense of anticipation as they prepare to dive headfirst into a world of innovation and learning. As the drone slowly descended, Wang Yunyi received the long-awaited acceptance letter.

"I never expected to receive my college acceptance letter in this way, so it's both exciting and innovative," said Wang, a graduate of Yuyan Middle School in Huangpu.

The first batch of college acceptance letters delivered by drones was included in a list of typical cases of application scenarios for the low-altitude economy in Huangpu, which was announced during a news conference on Monday.

Authorities in the district also launched an opportunity list for low-altitude economy's applications in the province to comprehensively promote the growth and development of the booming sector.

By establishing a platform for application scenarios, local authorities aim to further increase the volume of such uses, aiming to drive the development of the low-altitude economy through innovation.

The list of typical cases constitutes the first batch of 16 promising application scenarios that have been put into use or are about to be used in the district, including production operations such as drone-based agricultural precision seeding and pesticide spraying, blood sample rapid delivery for testing, urban aerial traffic operations and low-altitude electric vertical takeoff and landing flight experiences.

Typical cases on the list are all application scenarios that have already met the conditions for normalized operations, authorities said.

The opportunity list covers three major categories of application scenarios — production operations, public services and aviation consumption.

Specifically, the list includes a total of 55 specific application scenarios in fields including agriculture and forestry, surveying and mapping, meteorology, emergency response, firefighting, logistics, urban management, urban transportation and low-altitude cultural tourism.

"We will further strengthen coordination with civil aviation administration and other airspace management departments to guide the landing and operation of various low-altitude application scenarios and to systematically build a low-altitude ground take-off and landing point infrastructure network in the future," said Meng Lijuan, a researcher with the housing and urban-rural construction bureau of Huangpu.

Following the successful delivery of the first batch of college acceptance letters, express delivery companies said they will enable more new technologies and products in the low-altitude field to be applied and promoted in the delivery business.

"We will explore incorporating low-altitude drones into the transportation system on top of the existing aviation, railway and road networks, aiming to create a comprehensive and three-dimensional transportation network," said Zou Liwen, general manager of the government and enterprise center of the Guangzhou Postal Administration.

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