Category: drones

by Otilia Drăgan

In the last couple of years, mainly because of the ongoing global health crisis, some business sectors have suffered severe losses, while others have flourished. One of the latter is last-mile food delivery, with an expanding market that’s estimated to reach trillions of dollars, and drones will play an essential part in this rapidly-growing business. 

A scheduled airline brand in the U.S. claims to be the first of its kind to launch drone delivery. We’re talking about Mesa Airlines, based in Phoenix, Arizona. This regional air carrier has teamed up with Flirtey, an aerospace technology company, to initiate a drone delivery service. 

Continue reading… “Mesa Becomes the First Scheduled Airline in the U.S. to Launch Drone Delivery Services”

In the dark of night, a drone takes off from a Toronto hospital rooftop, the hum of its rotors barely audible over the bustling sounds of the cars and pedestrians below in Canada’s largest metropolis.

On its maiden flight, with a bird’s-eye view of the city’s glistening skyline as it glides over apartments, shops and office towers, the drone is carrying a precious cargo – human lungs for transplant.

The 15.5-kilogram (34-pound) carbon fibre unmanned electric drone purpose-built by Quebec-based Unither Bioelectronics flew just 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) from Toronto Western Hospital on the city’s west side to the roof of the downtown Toronto General Hospital.

The trip at the end of September took less than 10 minutes. It was automated but kept under the watchful eye of engineers and doctors.

The drone delivery of transplant lungs marked a global first, according to the company, but a similar flight in April 2019 delivered a kidney to a hospital in the US state of Maryland.

Continue reading… “Canada hospitals use drones to deliver lungs for transplant”

A mockup of the KCD-200, a prospective cargo drone, was unveiled at the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) by South Korean aerospace and defense company, LIG Nex1. 

By VALIUS VENCKUNAS

The drone will be powered by hydrogen cells and boast a cargo capacity of 200 kilograms (440 pounds).

The manufacturer also claims that it can be used for both civilian and military applications.

The KCD-200 was announced in May 2021, after LIG Nex1 was awarded a 44.3 billion won ($37.6 million) five-year contract by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to develop a hydrogen-powered cargo drone.

Continue reading… “South Korea’s LIG Nex1 reveals hydrogen-powered cargo drone”

By Bruce Crumley

Leading global drone delivery company Wing is undertaking more innovation of its operational model by introducing store-prepared orders in new service to the Dallas-Fort Worth area – its biggest urban market to date.

Owned by Google holding company Alphabet, Wing is launching its new, retail-based drone delivery method as ideally adapted to serving the dense population cities it hopes to expand to in the US and around the world. The first version of that will operate in the Frisco and Little Elm areas of Dallas-Fort Worth, using a container-housed command center located at Walgreens store Wing is partnering with. Serving as an operational mini-hangar, the unit can be brought to virtually any business wanting to fly goods to waiting customers, and house the Wing drones, pilots, and navigation equipment to provide that transportation.

The new model will involve designated Walgreen employees processing client orders and load those packages onto the delivery drones. Once the payload box holding goods is secured, Wing pilots take over, flying the drones to client addresses for delivery. The system is designed to allow expanded operation and UAV take off and landing from adjacent parking lots, surrounding open spaces, or even from rooftops.

Continue reading… “Wing to launch store-based drone delivery in Dallas-Fort Worth”

By J. Sharpe Smith

5G is coming to the New York State 50-mile unmanned aircraft systems corridor between Syracuse and Rome, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week. What is said to be the first FAA-designated UAS test site with a bespoke 5G network will be installed by the MITRE Engenuity Open Generation 5G Consortium, which is a collaborative effort to accelerate 5G use cases for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) programs, public safety, remote healthcare, smart cities, and autonomous vehicles.

NUAIR, a New York-based nonprofit UAS organization, manages New York’s 50-mile unmanned aircraft systems corridor and will help to implement the 5G network. With coordination from NUAIR, the corridor will include an experimentation hub with more than 100 square miles dedicated to 5G beyond-visual-line-of-site testing and long-range flight paths.  

Continue reading… “New York’s 50-Mile UAS Corridor to Test 5G Network for Drones”

No one knows exactly how drone delivery will fit into the future of logistics, but one thing is for sure: The aircraft aren’t going to drop off important payloads directly onto someone’s lawn. Matternet’s Station, an automated landing space and payload control tower, may be the solution, and the flower-like structure has finally made the jump from render to reality at a medical facility in Switzerland.

The Station was teased early last year, but one never knows with these concept renders whether the final result will be anything like the idea. In this case it’s dead on, looking for anything like a prop from a ’60s sci-fi flick.

The unusual shape serves a purpose, however, providing a safe place for a cargo drone to land and swap its battery out, protected from the elements and the type of ne’er-do-wells who would snatch a medical payload from an innocent robot.

Continue reading… “Matternet’s automated drone-docking station makes its real-life debut in Switzerland”

by Cristina Mircea

The Commercial UAV Expo Americas is one of the most important events in the drone industry, having first dibs on all the breakthroughs and releases in the field. This year’s edition brought some really cool UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) in the spotlight and the Hammerhead eV20 is one of them. 6 photos

The eV20 is a delivery drone developed by Airlogix, a company headquartered in Delaware, which also has a research and development center in Ukraine. Its new VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) is an electric drone propelled by four tilt electric motors with a maximum thrust of 104 lb (47 kg) each. 

Continue reading… “Hammerhead eV20 Cargo Drone Can Carry Spot the Robot Dog in Its Luggage Compartment”

Wingcopter

By Brielle Jaekel

The current pandemic exposes many gaps in the healthcare supply chain, leading many to look for innovative solutions. Wingcopter undergoes drone delivery testing for blood samples to help this.

Wingcopter completes a successful test transport of blood samples in Germany via drone delivery, speeding up important healthcare drop offs in rural areas. Without technologies such as this, life saving deliveries can be difficult in rural areas, making innovative projects like this so timely. The journey for the Wingcopter drone was roughly 16 miles, or 26 kilometers, in just 18 minutes with a pneumatic tube including 250 grams of blood samples in tow. 

Continue reading… “Healthcare Logistics Turns Futuristic with Drone Blood Delivery”

By Ishveena Singh

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The state of Telangana in India is beginning trial runs for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, and other healthcare items using drones from today. For this “Medicine from the Sky” project, logistics company Blue Dart has teamed up with drone delivery startup Skye Air Mobility and UK-based Unified Traffic Management (UTM) technology platform Altitude Angel.

India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted the Government of Telangana a conditional exemption from drone regulations for its “Medicine from the Sky” project, which is being supported by World Economic Forum, Healthnet Global, and Indian think tank Niti Aayog. Eight consortiums have been approved to carry out BVLOS drone delivery trials.

Continue reading… “India kicks off ‘Medicine from the Sky’ BVLOS drone delivery trials”

By Ishveena Singh

Hyundai Motor Group says it wants to become completely carbon neutral by 2045. To achieve this goal, the company is making investments in cleaner transportation and greener energy solutions. Among other things, these investments would include a couple of next-generation drone platforms.

Hyundai’s drone plans combine both ground-based uncrewed autonomous vehicles and urban air mobility solutions. The drones will utilize what Hyundai is calling a “Fuel Cell e-Bogie.” Inspired from the rail industry, these Fuel Cell e-Bogies will house a fully enclosed system with hydrogen fuel cell propulsion and independent four-wheel steering.

Continue reading… “These are the next-gen hydrogen-powered drones Hyundai is working on”

Set in 2062, “The Jetsons'” whimsical world of flying cars and robot housekeepers captivated young viewers with a high-tech future. But Hanna-Barbera got it wrong: At least part of that future may be four decades early.

No longer the stuff of science fiction, highways in the sky are a very real proposition. Already, four states have test-run legislation that restricts drones to aerial corridors. Drone companies, states, and the Federal Aviation Administration are working to regulate the national airspace, and many industry advocacy groups, regulators, and operators see a drone “highway” model as the way forward. But they face a sizable and vocal opposition.

“I think people still think of drones as that Jetsonian future and don’t understand how close we are to really scaling them,” Casie Ocaña, marketing director for drone infrastructure company Airspace Link, told Modern Shipper.

Continue reading… “Drone Highways In The Sky Could Be On The Horizon”

By Bruce Crumley

French company XSun specializes in solar-powered drones – and has produced a pretty impressive craft, indeed. Its SolarXOne fixed-wing aircraft not only soaks up and stores the sun rays that power it, but also packs onboard tech that allows it to make its own decisions during flights.

Continue reading… “SolarXOne: fully electric, solar-powered autonomous drone”