South Korea Team Showcases Drone That Serves as ‘Flying Shopping Cart’

 Park Hyun-geun, a graduate student of Mechanical Design and Robot Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (Seoul Tech), demonstrates the aerial transportation platform "Palletrone" on stairs at the Seoul Tech in Seoul, South Korea, October 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Park Hyun-geun, a graduate student of Mechanical Design and Robot Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (Seoul Tech), demonstrates the aerial transportation platform "Palletrone" on stairs at the Seoul Tech in Seoul, South Korea, October 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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South Korea Team Showcases Drone That Serves as ‘Flying Shopping Cart’

 Park Hyun-geun, a graduate student of Mechanical Design and Robot Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (Seoul Tech), demonstrates the aerial transportation platform "Palletrone" on stairs at the Seoul Tech in Seoul, South Korea, October 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Park Hyun-geun, a graduate student of Mechanical Design and Robot Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (Seoul Tech), demonstrates the aerial transportation platform "Palletrone" on stairs at the Seoul Tech in Seoul, South Korea, October 10, 2024. (Reuters)

South Korean researchers have developed a transport drone flying on multiple flexible rotors that self-correct to stay level in flight and can be used as a "flying shopping cart" to carry goods over uneven terrain such as stairs.

The prototype developed by a Seoul National University of Science and Technology team has a cargo platform mounted on top of a multi-rotor drone and is handled by a person using gentle force to guide the hovering aircraft.

Members of the team demonstrated the hovering platform with a handlebar much like one on a push shopping cart moving objects up and down stairs and loading boxes on top as it hovered mid-air and maintained its balance by using a center of mass estimation algorithm.

To move objects over uneven terrain or stairs when a wheeled cart cannot, the drone responds to human control with what the developers call a physical human-robot interaction technique that anticipates human intentions for smooth flight, said Lee Seung-jae, professor of mechanical system design engineering.

But the broader focus of Lee's team is not on developing a shopping cart to be used over steps, but instead on applications that would use a drone with reliable horizontal stability without pitching and rolling.

"The Palletrone can be more than a flying shopping cart," he said, referring to the name the team gave the prototype by joining the words pallet, which is the platform for cargo on top, and drone.

Lee's team has tested a platform to carry objects up to 3 kg (6.6 lbs), and concedes commercial applications for cargo transportation at such a small weight easily carried by humans is limited.

Still, the mechanism that allows the drone to change directions in flight without banking and to maintain level attitude has applications for delivering sensitive or fragile payloads, Lee said.

But Lee's team is looking further ahead for the technology's potential use for uncrewed "flying taxis" carrying humans and for drones to be "refueled" mid-air, by changing batteries so the aircraft do not need to return to base for a fresh charge.

Multi-rotor drones are inherently limited in speed and range compared to fixed-wing drones but have better control and maneuverability, including the ability to hover in flight.

They have been used to deliver cargo, food and medical supplies, but commercial applications have been limited largely because it is impractical to increase the size of the battery enough to transport a heavier payload over a longer distance.

Seoul Tech's work was published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters this year, the publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers based in New York.



Amazon Launches Its First Internet Satellites to Compete Against SpaceX's Starlinks 

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Amazon Launches Its First Internet Satellites to Compete Against SpaceX's Starlinks 

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters) 

Amazon’s first batch of internet satellites rocketed into orbit Monday, the latest entry in the mega constellation market currently dominated by SpaceX's thousands of Starlinks.

The United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket carried up 27 of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, named after the frigid fringes of our solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellites will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 400 miles (630 kilometers).

Two test satellites were launched in 2023, also by an Atlas V. Project officials said major upgrades were made to the newest version. The latest satellites also are coated with a mirror film designed to scatter reflected sunlight in an attempt to accommodate astronomers.

Stargazers oppose the fast-growing constellations of low-orbiting satellites, arguing they spoil observations. Others fear more satellite collisions.

Founded by Jeff Bezos, who now runs his own rocket company, Blue Origin, Amazon aims to put more than 3,200 of these satellites into orbit to provide fast, affordable broadband service around the globe.

Elon Musk's SpaceX already has launched more than 8,000 Starlinks since 2019. The company marked its 250th Starlink launch Sunday night. More than 7,000 Starlinks are still in orbit some 300-plus miles (550 kilometers) above Earth.

The European-based OneWeb satellite constellation numbers in the hundreds in an even higher orbit.

Amazon already has purchased dozens of rocket launches from United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin for Project Kuiper, as well as others.

"There are some things you can only learn in flight" despite extensive testing on the ground, said Rajeev Badyal, the project's vice president.

"No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey," he said in a statement ahead of the evening liftoff.

The first liftoff attempt earlier this month was nixed by bad weather. It took until now to secure another spot in the launch lineup at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.