US-based drone developer Workhorse Group and UPS have performed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivery test in Lithia, Florida.

During the test, a Workhorse HorseFly UAV delivery system was launched from the top of an electric UPS package car to deliver a consignment to a home.

After delivering the package, the drone returns to the Workhorse package vehicle.

The UAV delivery system recently tested is an octocopter delivery drone, which is fully integrated with Workhorse’s line of hybrid delivery trucks.

The drone is also capable of docking on the roof of the delivery truck, which features a cage suspended beneath the UAV and extends through a hatch into the truck.

“It’s wonderful to see this technology applied in such a practical way."

The battery-powered drone can fly for 30min and carry a package weighing up to 10lb.

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For the test, Workhorse has preset the route for the drone, which is capable of using UPS’s On-Road Integrated Optimisation and Navigation (ORION) proprietary routing software.

Workhorse Group founder and CEO Stephen Burns said: “It’s wonderful to see this technology applied in such a practical way.

“The drone is fully autonomous. It doesn’t require a pilot.

“So the delivery driver is free to make other deliveries while the drone is away.”

According to UPS, the latest test has demonstrated how drones might assist in making non-urgent residential deliveries as part of the day-to-day operation.

Last September, the company participated in a trial delivery of urgent medicine from Beverly, Massachusetts, US to an island three miles off the Atlantic coast.

Image: UPS drone delivery test in Florida, US. Photo: courtesy of UPS.