Drone Delivery

Amazon’s own drones may not be delivering much – or often ­­– but smart mailboxes that can accept drone deliveries are now a part of the Amazon Sidewalk community network.

Canadian drone, equipment, and operating systems company Draganfly has unveiled its new UAV payload lowering device – a unit it’s calling “revolutionary” while marketed under the more pragmatic name, Precision Delivery System.

Vertiport operations and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) solutions provider Kookiejar says it is joining forces with design company STILFOLD to make drone landing platforms using “industrial origami” manufacturing technology.

Swiss drone delivery company RigiTech has further expanded its zone of international activity with the launch of trial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights of medical supplies in Uruguay.

After dishing out pretty much every possible image and specification detail on the still (officially) unannounced DJI Air 3 UAV Wednesday, ascendant leaker Igor Bogdanov immediately moved on to his next mission: Revealing the global drone giant’s work to introduce what he says is a UAV specially made for aerial deliveries.

Arrive, a drone delivery mailbox manufacturer formerly known as Dronedek, says it has raised more than $1.3 million from 428 investors. This is the second time the Indianapolis-based company’s crowdfunding campaign has brought in more than $1 million.

Up-and-coming drone delivery company RigiTech has followed breakthrough successes in France and its domestic market of Switzerland with a new achievement in Denmark, developing a specialized payload lowering system that enables fast and precise transportation of parts to offshore wind farms.

Up-and-coming cargo delivery drone developer MightyFly is preparing what the company calls the first public demonstration of an autonomous, fixed-wing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with planned flights in Michigan of its third-generation UAV hauling 100 lb. of freight.

Newly published figures are offering an idea of just how enormous the problem of drone use to deliver contraband to prisons around the world has become, showing nearly 100 suspected UAV drops made to a single Canadian jail last year alone.

It looks like Spright, the drone services division of air medical service provider Air Methods, is set to receive what is being called the only universal and fully autonomous drone docking station in the world. Israel-based StrixDrones tells DroneDJ that the first units of its highly advanced Strix2100 DroneDock are now rolling off the assembly line in Dayton, Ohio.

Aerial transport company Drone Delivery Canada has added new capacities to its growing array of UAV activities by obtaining approval from regulators for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights of dangerous goods as part of its Care by Air program.

Even as leading drone delivery company Zipline readies the operational launch of its new Platform 2 network for commercial clients in the US, the company is fêting the anniversary of its groundbreaking healthcare distribution work in Africa ­– an activity that has already benefitted millions of people, and which is now set to be extended and diversified with the backing of trans-Atlantic government partners.

Drone logistics company Aviant has announced the launch of its home delivery service, Kyte. Drones will now deliver groceries, takeaway food, and non-prescription medicines to sparsely populated areas and vacation homes in Norway. In addition, Aviant has landed $1 million in funding from Innovation Norway to autonomously deliver vital prescription medicines directly from pharmacies to people in remote and suburban areas.

Skyports Drone Services has moved to expand its international footprint and multiply its activities across Asia with new medical UAV delivery trials to remote destinations in Thailand.

Medical technology company Siemens Healthineers says it plans to roll out a drone delivery solution to transport laboratory diagnostics materials as well as other medical supplies in Africa. The company is joining forces with Wingcopter, a German developer and operator of delivery drones, for this initiative.

Top US cargo carrier Ameriflight has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drone deliveries as part of its regular services, and will soon begin using California-based UAV developer Matternet’s M2 craft and navigating systems to launch that activity.

As reported in past posted, the Ford Motor Co. is busy working on ways to integrate drones for use with its cars, trucks, and vans, with a newly published patent indicating how the automotive giant is looking to facilitate delivery craft landing on moving vehicles.

Swiss UAV medical drone delivery specialist RigiTech has announced a strategic partnership with US UAV healthcare transport company Spright, aiming to extend their mutual activities across Europe and the globe.

Silicon giant Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery company has passed several significant milestones in developing its operations around the world over the last year, but now it’s boasting an accomplishment with virtually zero chance of becoming a recurring use case – lowering a payload of peanuts and beer along the outfield foul lines of the Colorado Rockies’ Coors Field.

Though clearly still in the early stages of their development and growth, rapidly scaling drone delivery services made the ascending activity seems invulnerable to the layoffs rocking the wider US tech sector – an assumption that Amazon, and now DroneUp are have proven incorrect.

The UK’s Skyports Drone Services has added a new activity to its ship-to-shore aerial activities with the introduction Cash-to-Master (CTM) operations, shuttling reserves of money between anchored and harbored vessels and officials on the ground.