Zipline announces a delivery service for drones faster
Robotics firm Zipline made headlines when it launched what was the first national drone delivery service to transport blood to medical clinics in Rwanda. Now, the company has announced a revision of that system, which involves upgrading to the world's fastest delivery unmanned aircraft.
In the current version of the service, doctors in remote villages begin with a blood order that is urgently needed through a text message. That order is received by a central distribution center, where the requested item is placed on board of one of the 15 autonomous fixed wing drones known as "Zips". That Zip then flies to the doctor's location and releases its payload, which is parachuted to the ground. The delivery made, the drone later returns to its base.
In the new version of the service, it is reported that an improved logistics system will reduce the amount of time that elapses between the order received and the takeoff of the drone; will go from the current 10 minutes to just one minute. According to Zipline, this in turn will increase the number of daily flights that can be made from each distribution center, going from 50 to 500.
And yes, the Zips will now be faster. The new plane has a top speed of 128 km / h and a cruising speed of 101 km / h, which is 21 km / h faster than the previous Zips. In addition, they now have a round-trip range of 160 km, compared to 150 km, and can carry up to 1.75 kg of cargo, which represents an increase of 1.5.
