Emission-Free, High-Speed UAV Logistics Transforms Global Healthcare and Commerce
California-based autonomous drone delivery company Zipline recently revealed that they had achieved a major milestone in their efforts to bring UAV logistics to the masses, announcing that that they had reached 100 million commercial miles flown.
“That’s the same as driving on every road in the U.S. 24 times — with a spotless driving record — or flying to the moon and back 200 times.”, Zipline said in their YouTube video spotlighting the achievement.
Zipline highlighted the increased efficiency, both environmentally and time-wise, that drones offer when compared to traditional delivery solutions, pointing out that every mile was flown without producing emissions and without the time that would otherwise be spent waiting in traffic (over 30 years across all flights, according to their calculations). The system has been used to deliver over 22 million vaccine doses, saving tens of thousands of lives, while also providing quick and simple commercial drone logistics services to communities across the US and world.
Zipline unveiled their P2 delivery system in a video released in September, which showed how their combined drone system works. A larger unit flies hundred of feet above ground level while actual delivery is done by an attached droid module. They support a maximum weight of around 8 lbs, and have around a 10 mile service range and 24 mile total range per trip. The combined platform can move at an impressive 70mph pace and features automatic airspace avoidance technology along with advanced swarming AI to avoid collisions.
More information about Zipline is available here.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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Drone kilo meters/ miles any body/country/world…run/ flyied will be vital statistics.
Agree Daniel, zipline has a history of being pricks. Show me a drone company that is making money and I’ll show you a liar. Every drone company out there is living off taxpayer grants, given by politicians who make themselves popular by giving our money away. Stop all grants for this stupid activity.
I’m calling bullshit on your calculations. Also how do you say you’ve saved tens if thousands of lives. Again. Bullshit. Drone delivery may be practical for rural delivery packages, but has zero practicality for in town service. They are loud… and no matter what you say about collision avoiding technology… it’s bound to happen. In fact there have been plenty that have not been reported to the public. Tens of thousands. Actually.