Japanese Firm Tests Heavy-duty Delivery Drone

Japanese flying-car developer SkyDrive has successfully launched test flights of a cargo drone, according to a company press release.

“[This] could revolutionize the way heavy goods are transported and speed up the movement of equipment in remote locations.”

The first test launched earlier this month in Toyota City, Japan. A company spokesperson said the drone moved “heavy equipment in remote locations.” Additional testing will be carried out later in the month.

“This new technology has been tested with a load capacity of [44 pounds] — utilizing SkyDrive’s world-leading aircraft development technology to achieve high safety standards. There is the potential to develop this further and achieve greater capacity loads of up to [110 pounds], according to demand. The cargo drone also has the potential to change the way products are moved from manufacturers to warehouses and onto depots.

“Our cargo drone has proven to deliver by safely lifting loads of up to [44 pounds] in a mountainous area — saving time and money,” SkyDrive CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa said.

The company plans to use delivery drones across rough terrain such as slopes, mountain valleys, overpasses, power transmission towers, civil engineering/construction sites or agricultural fields.

Specs:

• Total length – 4 feet, total width – 5.5 feet
• Recommended maximum payload – 60 pounds
• Flight speed: 25 mph
• Flight time: 15 minutes

Delivery drone testing has – pun intended – taken off in 2019.

This past month, Chinese drone company XAG teamed up with Airbus to launch delivery trials. Drones carry food deliveries from a noodle shop to select customers in Guangzhou via the Drone Cargo WeChat app. The maiden voyage saw one of XAG’s plant-protection drones, the P30, deliver a meal on a pre-determined, one-mile route to a rooftop landing pad in under 5 minutes.

In October, Uber Elevate unveiled a new food-delivery drone at Forbes’ Under 30 Summit. With a range of 18 miles and an 18-minute flight time, the six-rotor aircraft can carry “enough food to feed two adults.” The company expects the program to roll out in San Diego where Uber Elevate has been testing urban aerial delivery via the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).