A Karnataka-based company has conducted a successful trial run for the ambitious project of medicine delivery using drones on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
For the trials, Throttle Aerospace Systems (TAS) used two variants of drones. They tested the drones successfully within a 15 Km radius at Gauribidanur. The test was conducted in association with UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), and supervised by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Details of test run
TAS used Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones with a payload of up to 2Kg at various distances in the designated area. The aerial distance varied from 2 to 7 Km. Further, the test included the tethered lowering of shipment and landing of drones with the shipment. The successful trial will help in using drones to deliver life-saving drugs to the last-mile delivery in a short period. It will also help in times of natural disaster, pandemics, and calamities in a remote part of the country.
Product engineer of UDAN, Soumyadeep Mukherjee said, “The success of this trial run opens a massive trial opportunity to revolutionize customer experience in the distribution and logistics space.”
Another Medicine From Sky?
Apart from Karnataka, the Telangana government has already launched its ‘Medicine from Sky’ program. The project is operating in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
The project is aimed to enable emergency medical deliveries that could include COVID-19 vaccines and other essentials. The drone delivery system will focus on an end-to-end ecosystem for drone-based logistic transportation. It will utilize the existing logistics network of Telangana to enable medical supplies in different districts of the state.
Consortiums including Dunzo and Flipkart have partnered with the Telangana government for the project.
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