We are building our own delivery drone from the ground up so that means that we have to test everything as we go, there are no previous tests or a track record since we are custom building this drone.
Since the SeaPods will be at sea, where there are usually steady or gusty winds, this drone needs to be stable in the air, especially near homes and people. The only way to really test this is to fly the drone in windy conditions and monitor how it reacts. Staying stable in high wind is absolutely crucial for a drone that will be used in this environment.
The drone is a hexacopter which means it has six motors and six rotors. There are sensors on board that can sense when the drone is being pushed by the air and it will adjust the power that it gives to each motor to compensate for the movement and push back against the wind to maintain its position.
This is a very important thing to get right, especially when landing the drone. A crash would be expensive but more importantly, it could be dangerous if there are people or animals around. Going through these tests thoroughly is an important step to getting the drone into service. Things are going well and we are very happy with the results that we have seen so far!