Tokyo Takes Flight: Drone Deliveries Aim to Solve Traffic Challenges for Medical Supplies

Groundbreaking BVLOS Testing Showcases Autonomous Drone Delivery in Crowded Urban Airspace

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb

This article published in collaboration with JUIDA, the Japan UAS Industrial Development Association.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government recently announced a new initiative to begin drone deliveries for crucial medical supplies within city limits, including flight tests, which concluded early last month. This was the first time that one-to-two BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) medical delivery testing (meaning that  a single pilot controlled two drones at once) has been conducted within Tokyo’s crowded airspace. 

The project is being conducted with the aim to potentially relieve delivery problems caused by chronic traffic congestion in one of the world’s largest metropolises, where massive traffic jams can make crossing even relatively short distances difficult by road. 

Utilizing Japanese company ACSL’s Airtruck and PF2-CAT3 logistics UAVs, the testing occurred between late October and early November and featured both Level 3.5 (mostly autonomous BVLOS flight, with a pilot there to avoid potential pitfalls) and Level 4 (fully autonomous, with no supervisory pilot) flight testing in Tokyo city limits. 

The initial route involved a delivery to Hinode Village, a small suburb nestled in the foothills of the Okutama Mountains, representing the kind of rural area that might benefit from expanded drone delivery from more fully-featured medical facilities and pharmacies elsewhere within city limits, but in future, the Tokyo government hopes to expand drone delivery services across the entire prefecture. 

The AirTruck logistics drone, jointly developed by Aeronext and ACSL, features a 5kg payload and a maximum range of 20km. It has previously been deployed in medical delivery in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, where it was used in a similar test of autonomous flight over densely populated areas in a city where the roads are often filled with vehicles. The PF2-CAT3 is Japan’s first domestically produced drone to receive Class 1 certification and had conducted over 11 successful Level 4 autonomous delivery flights in 2023. 

The testing was conducted by KDDI Corporation, KDDI Smart Drone Corporation, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., East Japan Railway Company, Weathernews Inc., and Mediceo Inc. 

More information on the project can be found here (in Japanese).

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