As of 1 July 2022, #postal stakeholders that are not #public postal #operators or #regulators can become #directmembers of and participate actively in the work of the Universal Postal Union (#UPU), cooperating with other UPU members within the UPU #framework and through the Consultative Committee. In this series we report on new members. 

Endorsed by the #government of #Japan, ACSL Ltd. (Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory), founded in 2013, joins the UPU CC. The #company manufactures #industrial #drones and provides #solution services for automation using autonomous #technology. It has developed solutions in the areas of:
– #Delivery #logistics/mail
– #Inspection (autonomous flight in GPS-denied environments)
– Disaster relief (disaster prevention or #disasterresponse solutions equipped with high-resolution and infrared cameras)
– #Inventorymanagement (collecting inventory and placement information for large warehouses using drones)

ACSL drones can autonomously #transport and #deliver packages weighing up to 2 kg, and completing up to 4 stops per #flight. ACSL’s delivery solution #portfolio focuses on enabling #transportation without human intervention, to remote #islands, in remote areas, between #post offices, or within #factory premises. Since signing a #business #alliance agreement, they also provide services to Japan Post: Japan’s first unassisted, beyond visual line of sight flight was achieved in 2018 as a #cooperation between ACSL and Japan Post.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗖𝗦𝗟 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗣𝗨 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁?

ACSL Ltd. is a global technology leader in the relatively new field of autonomous and drone-assisted delivery and transport. This topic has been in the #media for some time but has often been seen as a PR stunt. Now, the first concrete use cases and reliable #technology are available, making these #models practical and relevant to the postal industry.

Once again, it is clear that #opening the UPU to wider stakeholders is appreciated and is attracting a wide variety of #companies and #organizations. ACSL is interested in sharing information and engaging with relevant #stakeholders to standardize the use of postal drone deliveries. It intends to coordinate with drone players across the globe, sharing current #technical capabilities in postal drone deliveries to help develop use cases as well as a regulatory/ #standardization framework for drone deliveries. The UPU provides an ideal setting for these activities. We expect to see other such exciting and enriching members joining the UPU CC in the near #future.