Swiss UAV startup Jedsy brings new thinking (and tech) to drone deliveries

Swiss drone delivery company Jedsy is small compared to the rapidly scaling sector giants like Zipline, DroneUp, Wing, or Flytrex, but the little UAV that could has developed interesting and unorthodox aerial and docking tech that’s attracting new clients.

Jedsy is an outside-of-the-box startup and drone delivery innovator. For starters it was founded in 2021 by triple aerobatic helicopter world champion Mirko Cesena, and the somewhat more conventional aerospace engineer Herbert Weirather. Both are committed to bettering larger rivals in UAV transport services by developing superior tech for healthcare, emergency responder, and urgent payload clients. Their path to that goal is creating hardware capable of withstanding the harsh conditions aircraft and associated gear are subjected to while operating in Switzerland’s higher altitude settings.

Read: Matternet’s Swiss medical drone delivery network ‘world’s longest’

Their first move in that was producing what they dubbed the Jedsy Glider: a vertical takeoff and landing delivery drone whose fixed-wing conception provides it a maximum 120 km flight range, and up to 75 minutes of battery life at top altitudes of 2,428 meters. The craft sports five different situational awareness sensors that facilitate autonomous missions, including a LiDAR ground altimeter. Though the UAV is capable of ground landings and parachute drops of payload, it reflects the company’s inventive thinking in its use of a surprising yet effective docking and recharging solution.

That mechanism is what Jedsy calls its “Mailbox,” and it looks like a car’s bike rack installed beneath the window of a client’s building. The aluminum structure not only provides a sturdy takeoff and landing solution in areas where ground options are limited or inconvenient, but also enables fast and easy loading or reception of critical payloads that need to get to final users as quickly as possible. The company says the hanging innovation is the first of its kind in the world.

Attaching mechanisms on both the Mailbox and Jedsy Glider ensure stability of the delivery drone while payloads are loaded or retrieved, and facilitate vertical landings and arrivals of the UAV with its fixed wings facing the façade of destination buildings. Before lifting off for a new mission, the craft looks as though it’s been hung from the window to dry (while it’s actually being re-juiced).

Though the company is ready to work with all types of clients, its main business focus is on healthcare, which most recently earned it work with the Dr. Risch network of 22 medical analysis labs in Switzerland and neighboring Lichtenstein. Under a deal begun earlier this year, the company has been staging about 20 daily flights between two Risch facilities, carrying blood and tissue samples and medical equipment. The drone’s straight path – which avoids flying over houses or traffic – permits deliveries in just five minutes, or around half of what the fastest road scenario in traffic-free conditions can.

Read: UK healthcare units trial drone transport of medicines, patient samples

Jedsy’s drone delivery solutions have also caught the interest of Malawi’s Ministry of Health, which late last year contracted the company to shuttle biological samples and other materials between hospitals and clinics.

“Deliveries that would ordinarily take hours on the road can now be made in minutes thanks to Jedsy’s team of top technical specialists, including drone assembly technicians, pilots, and mechanics,” the Jedsy site says, noting the operation also seeks to create local jobs in Malawi. “The company has hired a young highly motivated and brilliant Malawian team that will assist in spearheading the operations. Moreover, Jedsy aims to recruit additional personnel as operations extend throughout Malawi.”