A2Z Transforms from Manufacturer to Drone-Network-as-a-Service Provider

New AirDock and Longtail Products Enable Scalable, Shared Infrastructure for Drone Delivery and Public Service Operations

By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill

With its recent introduction of a suite of new products, A2Z Drone Delivery, which until recently had been known exclusively as a drone manufacturing company, is transforming itself into a drone-network-as-a-service provider as well, CEO Aaron Zhang said recently.

In a recent email interview Zhang said the rollout of these products, including AirDock docking stations and companion Longtail AirDock Edition drones, will serve as the key to the Torrance, California-based startup company’s growth plans. He said the company offers its clients, including public service providers and drone delivery companies, the option of using a network of docking stations to greatly expand their service areas at a relatively low cost.

“The main challenge that the AirDock portfolio addresses for drone logistics is one of scalability,” he said. “The AirDock can be deployed in a network of docks that allow drone services to expand their reach indefinitely.”

Last month, A2Z introduced several AirDock models, which feature elevated docks that safely keep drones and their spinning propellers far away from people and property below. The company also introduced its A2Z Longtail AirDock Edition, a specialized UAV designed for automatic charging capabilities to be used in conjunction with the AirDock models.

“A network of AirDocks can be shared amongst multiple users conducting divergent missions, each sharing in the upfront investment in such an infrastructure driving down the barrier to entry,” he said. “The AirDock’s solid-state design, with no moving parts, is not only designed to be more reliable and minimize maintenance, but offers an affordable path to create a network of drone docks to more easily scale the reach and diversity of drone-born service offerings.”

While a large enterprise customer might be able to make the upfront hardware investment in a large-scale network of drone docks and a companion drone fleet, more budget-conscious customers, such as drone delivery companies and municipal-level governments, need a streamlined path for bringing the efficiencies of drone services online without that upfront investment, he said.

“The scalability of an AirDock network starts with the system’s easy integration with existing public infrastructure, but removing some of the financial barriers to entry is also important to drive scalability,” Zhang said.

Zhang said that under its drone-network-as-a-service model, A2Z works with customers to design an AirDock network, and associated drone fleet, to serve their target area of operation and varied use cases. “The customer then makes an initial program deposit and a monthly subscription payment while we own and maintain the network, allowing them to focus on day-to-day service operations on the network,” he said.

A2Z’s primary focus has always been on ensuring the safe operations of its drone-related products, he said. “Since we introduced the industry’s first purpose-built commercial drone winch, we have focused on completing UAV deliveries from altitude where spinning propellers are kept far from people, property and ground obstructions.”

The company’s safety-first philosophy has continued with the design of the AirDock network, Zhang said. With four models of the AirDock product line, A2Z offers portable ground docks that can easily be transported and installed on a roof, as well as two elevated docks that serve multiple drones simultaneously. The elevated AirDocks not only enable delivery from a safe location high above people and property, but also keep charging and docking operations safely elevated as well.

Zhang said that A2Z’s docking network concept has taken the drone-in-a-box concept to the next level, by offering multiple customers the opportunity to share the same drone-support infrastructure. “Like our public roadways, a shared infrastructure allows the costs associated with the rollout, maintenance, and operations to be shared,” he said.

For example, in its ongoing two-year trials, A2Z has three independent drone service providers operating on a shared AirDock infrastructure covering an area of about 620 square miles where first responders, a local water resource agency and local restaurants are conducting patrol and cargo missions simultaneously, with each entity sharing in the operational costs of that network.

Through its cloud-based ground-control station, A2Z is able to balance the traffic on it AirDock networks and deconflict flight paths, landings and takeoffs. Missions are categorized by priority, with medical flights and law enforcement drones-as-first-responder missions having right-of-way over food deliveries.

Longtail AirDock Edition offers charging capability

In conjunction with its AirDock product line, A2Z also is introducing its specially configured drone model, the Longtail AirDock Edition, which features a customizable payload bay that can be outfitted to do the same work as most of the commercial payloads on the market, from delivery logistics to patrol, inspection and photogrammetry and more. In addition, this version of the company’s commercial drone platform has been modified to pair with the AirDock’s automated docking and charging capability.

“To create the solid-state design of our AirDocks, we’ve moved much of the more complicated functionality off the dock itself and onto our companion drone system,” Zhang said. “Inside the weatherproof Longtail, we’ve integrated our quadruple-redundant precision landing capability, onboard battery balancing and integrated battery heating system for cold environments.”

By moving these features off the dock and onto a drone, A2Z has been able to create a comprehensive system that is more reliable, with no moving parts that can be prone to frequent maintenance, he said.

“With the Longtail’s ability to land on any AirDock to automatically charge, a series of AirDocks can extend beyond the horizon to extend service range indefinitely,” Zhang said. “A good way to envision an AirDock network is similar to a metro rail system, where drones can move from station to station, operating nonstop missions; but unlike a train confined to a prescribed track route, the drones can also hop between stations to create a fully-encompassed service area.”

The AirDock system has two different interfaces. The first is for the drone operators, and allows them to program repeatable autonomous missions, whether common delivery routes, nonstop patrol missions or repeatable inspections or data collection routes. The second interface is for the end customers of A2Z’s clients. Here the non-operator customers can request delivery or pickup of payloads, review ongoing patrol missions, access patrol video streams and patrol activity reports.

Zhang said the company’s two-year trials have demonstrated the flexibility of the AirDock system in allowing customers to adapt their use of the system to their own needs.

“Multiple municipal departments are operating alongside multiple private delivery operations, seamlessly sharing the drone dock network to expedite emergency response, automate water resource oversight and deliver food,” he said. “We anticipate that stakeholders looking to operate in a shared area of operation will continue to find the opportunity to share in the startup investment that extends regional drone services.”

Read more:

• A2Z Drone Delivery Unveils New Autonomous Drone Docks for Expanding UAV Operations
• A2Z Launches the RDSX Pelican Long Distance Delivery Drone
• A2Z Drone Delivery Enhances RDSX Pelican Drone with New Flight Controller

Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.