text: Drone delivery startup Flytrex today announced Autonomous Pickup, a new delivery process that automates nearly the entire process: from order placement, to pickup at the restaurant, to yard-based delivery. By Flytrex’s estimates, this can cut end-to-end delivery time down to five minutes.
  The key differentiator for this system is a drop-down wire, which removes the need to have a human slowly “load up” the drone for takeoff, and also cuts down on the real estate necessary outside of any participating restaurant. Participating retailers and restaurants already include Unilever’s The Ice Cream Shop, Papa Johns, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, and Little Caesars. Flytrex estimates that its service, currently delivering hundreds of orders per day, now covers 95,000 customers across North Carolina and Texas.