Drone Delivery

Europe’s middle-mile drone delivery specialist Dronamics is moving to make its flagship Black Swan UAVs entirely carbon neutral through a linkup with UK company Zero Petroleum to supply fossil-free fuel for future aerial cargo transport.

A precautionary landing of a Wing delivery drone caused electricity to be cut to around 2,000 homes in an Australian town Thursday after the craft accidentally came to rest on power lines. The good news, according to one report, was utility workers arrived to find the food order payload still nice and hot.

Drone delivery specialist Flytrex has announced further expansion of its aerial activities with the launch of services in Durham, North Carolina, flying orders from its new partner, Charleys Philly Steaks.

Add Ireland to the list. Like a growing number of countries around the globe, Irish authorities say they’re now working to detect and thwart drone deliveries of contraband to the nation’s prisons, and have introduced anti-UAV technology into jails as a part of that.

Chicago-based Valqari, which offers drone delivery stations and smart mailboxes, says it has acquired UK’s IDU Group to further “last-inch” logistics with drone technologies.

Europe’s middle-mile drone delivery specialist Dronamics has announced a strategic partnership with Cotesa, a German composite fiber components producer, which will produce the aviation transport group’s flagship Black Swan automated UAV.

Three months ago today, Amazon announced that customers in Lockeford, California, will be the first to see Prime Air drones delivering packages in their backyards. The company is currently awaiting a decision from the regulators on the possible environmental impact of its operations. But, in the meantime, here’s a lowdown on how Amazon plans to operate its commercial delivery drones in California.

The M2 drone delivery system by Matternet has achieved type certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is a major step forward for the US drone delivery ecosystem because it’s the first time the FAA has approved the design of a drone built specifically for package deliveries.

Spright, the drone services division of air medical service provider Air Methods, says it is joining forces with an Israeli drone technology company to include a mailbox component into its drone delivery operations.

A research unit of Virginia Tech specialized in UAV traffic management (UTM) is leading a second phase of trials under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aegis aiming to advance work establishing effective, safe, and reliable systems for orchestrating flights of numerous drones sharing the same airspace.

Law enforcement officials in Texas have arrested 42 people in an alleged criminal ring that used a drone to smuggle drugs into state prisons, including an inmate who now risks a life sentence for his role in the plot.

Rebounding off its participation in the August 3 White House summit on advanced air mobility (AAM), sector lobbying organization Commercial Drone Alliance has gone on the offensive with praise of the Biden administration’s initiative in support of next-generation aerial activities, but with criticism of regulatory constrictions it says stifles increased UAV services in the US.

Dronedek has found a new partner to make its drone delivery mailbox offering more secure. The Indiana-based company says it is teaming up with facial recognition provider Scylla so that its smart delivery mailbox can be unlocked as easily as a cellphone.

As it prepares to bring free Prime Air drone deliveries to customers in California and Texas, Amazon is offering an inside look at how its drone delivery system works. A new video released by the company shows rigorous flight tests being conducted at one of its facilities in Oregon.

Commercial drone solutions specialist A2Z Drone Delivery has announced its second-generation automated delivery winch, RDS2 (Rapid Delivery System 2). The company says its latest product offers the highest payload capacity (22 pounds) of any tethered delivery system on the market, and also eliminates the need for specialty payload boxes.

Cargo drone manufacturer Windracers, which counts the British Royal Mail among its partners, has won its third round of funding from the Future Flight challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The fresh capital will help Windracers to further middle-mile drone delivery trials and regulatory work with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Canadian aviation authorities have issued a Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) certificate to drone logistics firm Drone Delivery Canada. The Toronto-based company says it is the only drone service provider in Canada approved to deliver dangerous goods using drones.

Come Monday, August 8, and a drone delivery mailbox located in a suburb of Indianapolis will create history by accepting traditional posts from US Mail. That delivery will be followed by McDonald’s delivering Big Mac and french fries to the same mailbox through a drone.

European drone delivery company Dronamics has joined a consortium in Scotland preparing what it says will be the UK’s first nation-wide UAV transport network of medical supplies and lab samples.

Instant logistics and drone delivery specialist Zipline has entered a partnership with US space agency NASA to examine the future operation of UAVs and advanced air mobility (AAM) craft and services, particularly those using multiple autonomous vehicles at once.

Boots has become the first community pharmacy in the UK to transport prescription-only medicines using drones. The company is working with medical drone delivery startup Apian to facilitate a trial from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight.