Ireland’s Manna Aero had a plan—to deliver fast food by drone. And it was about to start a trial for college students in March when the coronavirus hit–one of so many plans changed by the pandemic. Now it’s pivoted to a new role as a delivery service for pharmacies.
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Always be wary when you see two technology buzzwords in one sentence. But the US Department of Transportation (DOT) makes some interesting cases for why the secure ledger tech of blockchain could help make drones safer and more accountable.
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After a very slow start in recent years, the drone delivery business is taking off in 2020. The latest news comes from Singapore, which just got its first drone delivery service. This one is unique because it’s entirely over water.
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Another day, another story of new drone delivery services spurred by the COVID-19 emergency. Today, Bloomberg Law reports that UPS will begin its first paid residential drone delivery service, catering to The Villages retirement community in Florida.
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With a population of over 140,000, the Isle of Wight is a small island in the English Channel. It relies on ferry service for its connection to the rest of the UK, and those ferries have been cut back during the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon drones may soon help fill the gap.
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Before the COVID-19 era, drone delivery services were almost as rare as unicorns. There were believers, but not a lot of sightings. That’s changing quickly as the need for social distancing is inspiring ever more test programs.
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A drone delivery study performed by Thomas Kirschstein at the University Halle-Wittenberg has found that drones are often less efficient than today’s delivery methods. The drone delivery was compared with both diesel-powered and electric-powered delivery vans.
Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has been awarded its second US patent for its proprietary drone delivery technology. The United States Patent Office granted DDC’s latest Patent 10,625,879, which concerns the company’s take-off and landing technology.
When you hear “delivery drone,” you probably think of a quadcopter lugging six or eight pounds across a handful of miles. But Drone Delivery Canada is testing a much bigger bird. It can haul 400 pounds of cargo up to 124 miles.
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An experimental service from drone delivery company Wing in Virginia is humming along. The company says that its volume of deliveries has more than doubled since the service began on October 18. Wing hasn’t disclosed the total number of deliveries, but the growth is a positive sign.
The US and Europe develop a lot of technology. But they aren’t always the first to enjoy it. Case in point: San Francisco-based drone delivery company Zipline. Back in 2016, the company began transporting blood supplies with fixed-wing drones to rural medical clinics around Rwanda. Zipline has since made thousands of medical deliveries in Rwanda and has also expanded to Ghana in West Africa. Only now is the company bringing drone delivery to the US.
Chinese car company Geely announced on March 23rd it will complete new online deliveries using delivery drones to ensure human-to-human contact is avoided. New owners will be able to receive their car keys via a delivery drone that will drop them off right your door.
UPS drone delivery subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF) today said it would collaborate with German drone-maker Wingcopter to develop the next generation of package delivery drones for a variety of use cases in the United States and internationally.
Matternet has launched its new drone station with a new design and direct integration with hospital systems. Matternet hopes to have seamless drone deliveries between hospitals and pharmacies with their suppliers.
Manna drone delivery has partnered with Just Eat food delivery platform to bring drone deliveries to the people of Dublin. Manna’s delivery drones will first be delivering ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s and premium Thai food from Camile Thai.
Delivery drones are delivering supplies to marines in combat, allowing emergency food and ammunition deliveries in a short amount of time. The autonomous drones can carry 60 pounds of cargo and fly up to six miles away. The delivery drones are a part of the Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System’s (TRUAS) $225,000 competition.
Delivery drone company Wingcopter, in partnership with Merck and Frankfurt University, has completed its first drone delivery trial showcasing the benefits of drones as a delivery method. The delivery test spanned over 25 km from a Merck lab in Gernsheim, Germany, to the Merck headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.
An Australian couple stuck on a quarantined cruise ship with cases of coronavirus on board have managed to get wine delivered by drone. The couple’s wine club was more than happy to send wine to the cruise ship via drone, leaving the couple a little bit happier.
Update: We have received confirmation that the claim by the couple was false after they told an Australian radio station.
The coronavirus may turn out to boost deliveries by drone. The spreading virus and fears of contagion have made it more difficult and costly for companies such as Alibaba to deliver their products to customers. Making such deliveries by drone and thus reducing human contact might offer a solution.
On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed new safety standards for specific drones for package deliveries in the Federal Register. The move is seen as a crucial step in allowing routine package deliveries by drones in the not too distant future.
UC San Diego Health will be commencing tests involving drones as a delivery method for medical samples between its facilities in hopes to reduce the time potentiates for blood results and treatments. The testing is a collaboration between UC San Deigo Health, UPS, and Matternet.
Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine (GCIGM) has partnered with Deloitte to take a closer look into drone delivery as a means of transport for genomic samples. The partnership is still in the testing and funding stage to ensure samples make it through the delivery.
Australian fashion brand LSKD has partnered with Wing Aviation to deliver its products using drones, leading the way for fashion brands around the world. The first orders began last Thursday, January 23, with customers ordering through the Wing app.
Swiss Post’s drone delivery program will resume on January 27 after being suspended last May due to crashes. The drones were used to transport medical supplies and samples between two hospitals in less time compared to standard delivery methods.