Papa Johns Is Getting Into Drone Delivery—but Not for Pizza
Papa Johns Is Getting Into Drone Delivery—but Not for Pizza
棒约翰（Papa Johns）进军无人机配送——但送的不是披萨
Starting today, eager customers of the US pizza restaurant chain Papa Johns living in one corner of southern North Carolina will have the opportunity to receive their food from the sky, thanks to a new collaboration with Alphabet’s drone company, Wing. But Papa Johns’ signature pizzas won’t be on offer. Instead, drone-loving North Carolinians will have to choose between three kinds of sandwiches, a newer product for the fast-food chain: Philly cheesesteak, chicken bacon ranch, or steak and mushroom varieties.
从今天开始，美国披萨连锁店棒约翰（Papa Johns）在北卡罗来纳州南部地区的忠实顾客，将有机会通过天空接收他们的食物。这得益于棒约翰与 Alphabet 旗下无人机公司 Wing 的最新合作。不过，棒约翰标志性的披萨并不在配送之列。相反，热衷于无人机配送的北卡罗来纳州居民只能在三种三明治中进行选择——这是该快餐连锁店较新的产品：费城芝士牛排三明治、鸡肉培根牧场三明治，或是牛排蘑菇三明治。
Drone deliveries are popping up in more communities across the US and the world. Questions about the long-term economics and regulatory picture around unmanned aerial vehicles persist, but Wing boasts partnerships with Walmart, Panera, and DoorDash and is delivering through the sky to customers in four metro areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston. (In 2019, Wing received the US Federal Aviation Administration’s first certificate allowing a drone delivery company to operate in the country.) Competing drone companies, including Zipline, Amazon Prime Air, and Flytrex, fly packages, medical supplies, and Chipotle burritos in select communities across countries like Ghana, Japan, and the US.
无人机配送正在美国乃至全球更多的社区涌现。尽管围绕无人驾驶飞行器的长期经济效益和监管环境仍存在疑问，但 Wing 已与沃尔玛（Walmart）、Panera 和 DoorDash 达成合作，并正在为亚特兰大、夏洛特、达拉斯-沃斯堡和休斯顿这四个大都市区的客户提供空中配送服务。（2019 年，Wing 获得了美国联邦航空管理局颁发的首个允许无人机配送公司在该国运营的证书。）包括 Zipline、Amazon Prime Air 和 Flytrex 在内的竞争对手，也在加纳、日本和美国等国家的特定社区运送包裹、医疗用品和 Chipotle 墨西哥卷饼。
But until very recently, drone operators have struggled to fly full-size pizzas. For companies hoping to break into the food delivery space, this is unfortunate: 11 percent of the US population eats a slice on any given day, according to the US Department of Agriculture. In a fast-diversifying restaurant industry, getting them to customers is still big business. But the realities of physics, engineering, and the restaurant business conspire to make pizzas a challenge for drones.
但直到最近，无人机运营商在运送大尺寸披萨方面一直困难重重。对于希望打入食品配送领域的公司来说，这很遗憾：根据美国农业部的数据，美国 11% 的人口每天都会吃披萨。在快速多元化的餐饮业中，将披萨送到顾客手中依然是一门大生意。然而，物理学、工程学和餐饮业的现实情况共同使得披萨成为了无人机配送的一大挑战。
Flying Pizzas
飞行披萨
Traditionally, pizza is the experimental tech delivery of choice. The familiar and cheap cheese-sauce-bread combo has been loaded onto self-driving cars and autonomous sidewalk delivery vehicles and has been assembled by robots. It’s a fast and satisfying option, especially for busy families tight on time. And theoretically, a great fit for automated drones, among one of the faster delivery options—people love fresh, piping-hot pizza.
传统上，披萨是实验性科技配送的首选。这种熟悉且廉价的“芝士+酱料+饼底”组合曾被装载到自动驾驶汽车和自动人行道配送车上，甚至由机器人进行组装。这是一个快速且令人满意的选择，尤其是对于时间紧迫的忙碌家庭而言。从理论上讲，它也非常适合自动化无人机，因为无人机是更快的配送方式之一——人们都喜欢新鲜、热气腾腾的披萨。
But transporting one by drone requires some extra work, says Wing CEO Adam Woodworth. “Pizza comes in a very different box, with a big, flat surface area,” he says. They’re not naturally aerodynamic. Also, “you don’t want a pizza tilted.”
但 Wing 首席执行官 Adam Woodworth 表示，用无人机运送披萨需要额外的工作。“披萨的包装盒非常特殊，表面积很大且平坦，”他说。它们天生不具备空气动力学优势。此外，“你肯定不希望披萨在运输过程中倾斜。”
Wing’s relatively lightweight drones are engineered to carry three specific package sizes; right now, pizza boxes aren’t one of them. Woodworth says a new design is on the horizon. “I want to see pizzas coming at me from the sky,” he says.
Wing 相对轻便的无人机被设计用于运送三种特定尺寸的包裹；目前，披萨盒并不在其中。Woodworth 表示，一种新的设计即将问世。“我希望能看到披萨从天而降送到我面前，”他说。
Flytrex, an Israel-based drone delivery company, announced late last month that it had finally solved the problem. In collaboration with rival pizza chain Little Caesars, the company began delivering via drone up to two large pizzas (16 inches each), plus sodas and bread, in Wylie, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The leap comes courtesy of a much bigger new drone, capable of carrying up to 8.8 pounds for four miles.
总部位于以色列的无人机配送公司 Flytrex 上月底宣布，他们终于解决了这个问题。通过与竞争对手披萨连锁店 Little Caesars 合作，该公司开始在达拉斯郊区的德克萨斯州怀利市（Wylie）通过无人机配送最多两个大号披萨（每个 16 英寸），外加汽水和面包。这一飞跃得益于一种体积更大的新型无人机，它能够携带重达 8.8 磅的物品飞行 4 英里。
Unlike Wing’s more conventional flying machine, which resembles a traditional airplane studded with extra propellers, Flytrex’s Sky2 looks more like a flying spider. When pizza is its passenger, a square delivery bag dangles from an attached hook. It took Flytrex two years to execute what cofounder Amit Regev calls the “slightly unique design.” A flat, winglike net attached to the drone helps keep the pizza level as it flies through the air.
与 Wing 较为传统的飞行器（看起来像装有额外螺旋桨的传统飞机）不同，Flytrex 的 Sky2 看起来更像一只飞行的蜘蛛。当运送披萨时，一个方形的配送袋会悬挂在连接的挂钩上。Flytrex 花了两年时间才完成了联合创始人 Amit Regev 所称的这种“略显独特的设计”。连接在无人机上的扁平翼状网有助于在飞行过程中保持披萨的水平。
The drone has been successfully delivering pizzas in Texas for about five months, the company reports, with hot packages arriving at their delivery spots an average of 4.5 minutes after takeoff. “It’s not the sexiest drone, but it gets it done,” Regev says.
据该公司报告，该无人机在德克萨斯州成功配送披萨已有约五个月，热腾腾的包裹平均在起飞后 4.5 分钟内即可到达配送点。“它不是最酷炫的无人机，但它能完成任务，”Regev 说。
Droning by the Numbers
无人机配送的经济账
The bigger challenge of flying pizzas, or any other low-cost food delivery option, isn’t the physics, but the economics. Drone companies need to figure out how to keep down per-delivery costs even as they’re limited by payload constraints (the drones can’t carry too much), their vehicles’ range, weather challenges, and various regulatory hoops. Restaurants need to figure out how to create flying-friendly packaging, train their workers to deal with drone deliveries, and think through the physical space needed to get the machines in and out.
运送披萨或其他低成本食品配送方式面临的更大挑战不是物理学，而是经济学。无人机公司需要设法降低单次配送成本，同时还要受限于载荷限制（无人机不能携带太多东西）、飞行器的航程、天气挑战以及各种监管门槛。餐厅则需要设法设计出适合无人机运输的包装，培训员工处理无人机配送事宜，并考虑无人机起降所需的物理空间。
Regev says the decade-old company found through years of trial and error that it needs to depend on retail workers, not its own specially trained drone delivery operators, to make the whole thing work financially. The process needs to be “simple, simple,” he says, including as much automation as possible. “We spend a lot of time on Excel sheets,” he says.
Regev 表示，这家成立十年的公司通过多年的反复试验发现，为了在财务上实现盈利，必须依靠零售店员工，而不是公司自己专门培训的无人机操作员。他说，整个流程必须“简单、简单”，并尽可能多地包含自动化。“我们在 Excel 表格上花了很多时间，”他说。
Papa Johns’ partnership with Wing will start at a single franchise in Indian Trail, North Carolina, outside of Charlotte, though the chain intends to expand the delivery option, according to chief digital and technology officer Kevin Vasconi. Part of that expansion will be training workers on the adjusted “workflows” needed to get drone deliveries out the door. “We have an internal business case that pencils out,” Vasconi says. Drones might be especially helpful at food rush hours, he says, when workers and delivery drivers are pushing hard to get everything out the door.
据首席数字和技术官 Kevin Vasconi 称，棒约翰与 Wing 的合作将从北卡罗来纳州夏洛特市郊外 Indian Trail 的一家特许经营店开始，尽管该连锁店打算扩大这种配送选择。扩张的一部分将包括培训员工适应无人机配送所需的调整后的“工作流程”。“我们内部的商业案例显示这是可行的，”Vasconi 说。他表示，无人机在用餐高峰期可能特别有用，因为那时员工和外卖骑手正忙于处理大量的订单。
Vasconi also thinks drones are just fun. “It’s a surprise-and-delight kind of feature,” he says. (Customers will be able to opt out of drone delivery if they choose.) “Ideally, we’ll get to being able to offer the full menu.”
Vasconi 还认为无人机配送很有趣。“这是一种能带来惊喜和愉悦的功能，”他说。（如果顾客愿意，可以选择不使用无人机配送。）“理想情况下，我们最终将能够提供完整的菜单。”