Delivery drone flies drinks and balls to golfers in Japan

Rakuten, just like Amazon, is experimenting with drones that can quickly deliver goods to its customers. Unlike Jeff Bezos' company, however, the e-commerce giant is starting small with a service designed for golfers. From May, players at a specific course in Japan's Chiba prefecture will be able to take out their phone and request some new golf balls or refreshments. A Mini Surveyor drone developed by the Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory -- a company from Chiba which Rakuten has now invested in -- will then fly them over from a base station near the course's clubhouse.

Credit: NHK

According to NHK, Rakuten will then assess whether the technology can be expanded to other golf courses and, ultimately, people's homes in a similar manner to Amazon's proposed Prime Air program. It sounds like a sensible test bed, although we're worried that some particularly audacious approach shots could see deadly quadcopters falling from the sky.