Fast forward to 2024. While Amazon and other companies continue to push the envelope in countries like the U.S., the vision of drone delivery remains just that in India—a vision. No buzzing fleets overhead, no drones swooping in with samosas or smartphones. What happened to the dream of drone delivery in Indian cities?

To understand why this technological marvel hasn’t taken off, we must examine a combination of economic, regulatory, infrastructural, and societal challenges unique to India. This article dives deep into those complexities and unpacks why drone delivery has remained grounded in the country.

1. The Promise and the Premise: Why Drones for Delivery?

The original pitch was simple and compelling—people want their products faster and cheaper. Traditional logistics systems are burdened by traffic, warehousing costs, and rising delivery charges. Drones promised a sleek alternative that bypassed terrestrial bottlenecks.

In the U.S., where average delivery times in 2013 ranged from 2 to 5 days, and shipping costs hovered around $4–6 per order, drones were seen as a game-changer. If Amazon could replace expensive human-driven vehicles with autonomous drones, it could dramatically reduce costs and delight customers with near-instant deliveries.

The Indian ecosystem, plagued by chaotic traffic and logistical nightmares, seemed a perfect candidate for leapfrogging into drone delivery. Entrepreneurs envisioned a solution that would sidestep crumbling infrastructure and deliver efficiency from the skies.

But there was a catch. Several, in fact.

2. The Economics: When Cheap Labor Beats Cutting-Edge Tech

Let’s begin with the most basic hurdle—money. In India, the economics of drone delivery simply don’t add up.

Low-Cost Human Labor

Unlike the U.S., where delivery jobs command decent wages, Indian delivery operations thrive on extremely low-cost labor. The average cost to deliver a parcel in the U.S. is about $5–6. In India? It’s closer to ₹40–50, or around $0.50–0.60.

And even this figure has gone down further with the rise of quick commerce. Platforms like Zepto have revolutionized delivery models using dark stores—mini-warehouses distributed across cities, often within 1–3 km of residential areas. With such proximity, human delivery riders can now complete orders in as little as 4 minutes, and often for as low as ₹20 per delivery.

The Quick Commerce Shift

Quick commerce has flipped the script. Where once delivery time and cost were pain points, they’re now competitive advantages. This hyper-local model undermines the need for high-capital drone technology. Why deploy an expensive drone network when a fleet of humans can deliver faster and cheaper?

So, while drones may be economically viable in high-wage countries, they face stiff—and unfair—competition in India, where affordability trumps automation.

3. The Regulatory Maze: India’s Airspace Isn’t Drone-Friendly

If economics weren’t enough to ground drones, regulatory constraints certainly did the job.

Safety, Security, and Sovereignty

Drones are not just fancy flying toys—they’re aerial vehicles that can crash, be hijacked, or invade privacy. The Indian government, rightly concerned about national security and public safety, has historically imposed strict bans on drone usage.

It was only in 2021 that regulations were eased slightly. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) introduced an airspace map demarcating India into green, yellow, and red zones:

• Red Zones: No-fly areas, often around strategic or urban centers.
• Yellow Zones: Require government clearance.
• Green Zones: Drones can operate freely—but these are rare in urban areas.

Take Bengaluru, for instance. Most of the city is either a red or yellow zone. In practical terms, there’s virtually no space left in major Indian cities for drones to operate freely.

Slow Bureaucratic Momentum

Even where permissions are theoretically possible, red tape, unclear policies, and slow-moving bureaucracy make drone operations a logistical and legal nightmare. Companies hoping to scale drone delivery must navigate a minefield of approvals and compliance protocols.

4. The Human Factor: Jobs, Politics, and Public Perception

Technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum. In a country like India, where livelihoods matter as much as innovation, drone delivery faces a philosophical dilemma.

Employment Concerns

India’s logistics and e-commerce industry currently employs 1.5 to 2 million delivery workers. Projections suggest this number could triple by 2030. For a government under pressure to generate employment, automating millions of jobs with flying robots sends the wrong message.

This sentiment isn’t new. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari famously rejected the idea of self-driving cars in India, citing potential job losses. The government’s stance is clear—technology should not cost people their livelihoods, especially in a labor-rich economy.

5. The Urban Reality: Why Indian Cities Are Bad for Drones

Even if drones were cost-effective, approved, and politically acceptable, there’s another massive hurdle—urban infrastructure.

Congestion and Chaos

Unlike the grid-like, well-planned layouts of some Western cities, Indian cities are dense, unstructured, and chaotic. Rooftops are cluttered, power lines are tangled, and open landing zones are rare. Narrow lanes, high-rises, and informal settlements further complicate the drone navigation equation.

Flying a drone in a place like Phoenix or Berlin is one thing. Doing so in Mumbai’s Dharavi or Delhi’s Chandni Chowk? That’s another story entirely.

Unpredictable Weather and Pollution

Let’s not forget India’s volatile climate—monsoons, dust storms, and extreme heat make consistent drone operation unpredictable. Add high pollution levels that can interfere with sensors and navigation systems, and it’s clear that India’s environment is not drone-friendly.

6. Enterprise Use vs. Consumer Hype: Drones Still Have a Role

It’s important to note that drones haven’t failed entirely in India—they’ve just failed to deliver food and phones to your doorstep.

In fact, drones are increasingly being used for:

• Agriculture: Crop monitoring, pesticide spraying.
• Disaster relief: Delivering aid to remote or flood-affected areas.
• Healthcare logistics: Transporting vaccines and medical supplies in rural regions.
• Surveillance and security: Crowd management, border patrol.

These enterprise and government-backed use cases are far more viable because they:

• Avoid congested cities.
• Operate in green zones.
• Receive regulatory and financial support.

In short, drones are succeeding in India—just not in the way Bezos envisioned.

Conclusion: A Dream Deferred, Not Dead

Drone delivery in India isn’t an outright failure—it’s a misfit in the current economic, regulatory, and societal context. The dream of flying couriers hasn’t died; it has merely been postponed, repurposed, and refocused.

For consumer drone delivery to become a reality in India, several things must align:

• Technology must become significantly cheaper.
• Regulations must adapt to urban complexities.
• Urban planning must evolve to accommodate aerial logistics.
• And perhaps most crucially, society must be ready to trade off low-skill employment for technological efficiency.

Until then, your groceries will likely continue to arrive by scooter rather than sky.

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So what happened?

Despite the hype, promises, and millions of dollars in investment, drone delivery has faced a rocky journey. From regulatory red tape and technological limitations to privacy concerns and social pushback, the path to mainstream adoption has proven far more complex than expected. This article dives into the real reasons drone delivery never quite took off—and what still stands in the way of a drone-powered future.

The Legal Sky Trap: When Technology Outpaces Law

Perhaps the biggest hurdle drone delivery faces isn’t technological—it’s legal. Aviation is one of the most strictly regulated industries in the world, and for good reason. After all, flying hundreds of miles per hour in a metal tube 30,000 feet in the air isn’t exactly risk-free.

But drones aren’t planes. They’re unmanned, lightweight, and often fly at low altitudes. Despite this, until 2016 there were no official rules governing drone use in the U.S. That changed with the introduction of Part 107 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which finally offered a framework for drone operations.

However, these rules were tailored more for hobbyists than companies aiming to revolutionize last-mile logistics. A particularly limiting regulation? The requirement that drones remain within the operator’s line of sight. This single rule virtually kills the idea of autonomous long-range delivery unless a company wants to station human operators on every street corner—clearly not scalable.

Part 135: The Bureaucratic Gauntlet

Companies that want to go beyond the limitations of Part 107 must pursue Part 135 certification, the same category used by small cargo aircraft operators. Unfortunately, this process is notoriously time-consuming, expensive, and bureaucratic—often likened to navigating a Kafka novel. For many companies, it’s simply not worth the effort unless they have deep pockets and a long runway (no pun intended) for experimentation.

Flying into Infrastructure Issues

Even if a company navigates the FAA labyrinth, the skies aren’t exactly ready for swarms of delivery drones. There’s currently no comprehensive traffic control system in place for unmanned aerial vehicles. That means drones risk mid-air collisions with other drones, birds, or even buildings—particularly in dense urban areas where delivery demand is highest.

To its credit, the FAA is collaborating with private firms to design a dedicated air traffic control system for drones, but this effort is still years away from large-scale implementation. Until then, any ambitious drone delivery fleet would be flying blind—literally and figuratively.

Safety First: The Weight of Falling Tech

A drone falling out of the sky might sound like a minor mishap—until you consider the weight of commercial delivery drones. Google’s Wing drones, for example, weigh around 11 pounds. That’s the weight of a small dumbbell suddenly plummeting toward someone’s head from a few hundred feet up.

Now imagine even larger drones delivering bulkier packages. The risk escalates quickly, and while regulators don’t expect drones to meet the one-in-a-billion failure standard of commercial airliners, the bar still needs to be high. After all, drones crash. A lot. Off-the-shelf models routinely fail due to technical glitches, signal interference, or weather conditions—and those are just recreational models.

For delivery drones to be viable, they must prove not only mechanical robustness but also fail-safe behavior in unpredictable environments.

The Hidden Battle: Public Perception and Noise Pollution

Let’s suppose drone safety and regulation are miraculously solved tomorrow. Would people welcome drones buzzing by their windows at all hours?

That’s where social acceptance becomes the next big challenge.

Imagine a world where your peaceful Sunday morning is disrupted by the high-pitched whirring of drones delivering lattes, batteries, or emergency corn dogs. Sounds fun? Probably not. While the novelty of receiving a drone-delivered item might be exciting once or twice, the daily reality of drones flying low across residential neighborhoods could quickly become annoying—or even unnerving.

There’s also the matter of privacy. Even if companies like Wing promise their drones don’t use high-resolution cameras, the perception of constant surveillance can erode trust and fuel public backlash. After all, nobody wants their neighborhood to feel like a flying robot zone.

The Theft Problem: Who’s Watching the Sky?

Drone delivery also opens a Pandora’s box of security and theft concerns. Porch piracy is already a massive problem with traditional deliveries. Now imagine a system where packages are literally dropped from the sky—often with no human oversight. What’s stopping someone from simply plucking a package from a drone mid-flight? Or hijacking drones with rudimentary tech?

With no delivery driver to verify handoff, no camera to record transactions, and no tamper-proof system in place, drone delivery could make theft and fraud easier than ever before. Ironically, the very lack of human oversight that makes drone delivery cost-efficient also makes it riskier.

Animal Attacks and the Unpredictable Wild

If you thought porch pirates were bad, how about hawk attacks?

Yes, drone-related wildlife interactions are a real concern. Birds of prey have been known to attack drones mid-flight, mistaking them for threats or prey. Even domestic animals like dogs have damaged low-flying drones that ventured too close. It’s one more layer of unpredictability in an already complex system.

While this might sound like a minor issue, it underscores a larger point: the world isn’t designed for widespread autonomous drone flight. Not yet, anyway.

Who’s Still Trying? And Why They Might Still Win

Despite all these challenges, some companies continue to invest in drone delivery, banking on a future where technology, regulation, and public opinion align.

Google’s Wing

Wing has made significant progress, operating limited drone delivery services in Australia and the U.S., often in rural or suburban areas where drone routes are less likely to cross paths or interfere with people.

Amazon Prime Air

Amazon, the original hype machine for drone delivery, continues to test in select regions. But even with its massive infrastructure and resources, progress has been painfully slow.

UPS and Others

Logistics companies like UPS have also dipped their toes into drone delivery, mostly for medical and urgent supplies where the cost and complexity can be justified by critical need.

In all cases, these are small-scale pilot programs, not mass-market solutions. They’re more about gathering data and building credibility than fulfilling customer expectations—at least for now.

A Future Still Up in the Air

So, will drone delivery ever work?

Probably. But not the way you expect.

The vision of drones zipping across cities, delivering everything from shampoo to sushi, might never be fully realized—at least not in dense urban settings. However, there is a strong case for specialized drone deliveries in areas like:

• Rural logistics, where roads are long and delivery trucks inefficient
• Emergency medical supplies, where speed can save lives
• Remote industrial locations, where drones can navigate terrain better than vehicles

These use cases provide high-value solutions without inviting all the issues that come with urban deployment.

Conclusion: The Sky Isn’t Falling, But It’s Not Flying Yet

Drone delivery isn’t dead—it’s just grounded by the very real challenges of regulation, technology, infrastructure, and public trust. For now, traditional delivery methods remain faster, safer, and more socially acceptable. But that doesn’t mean drones won’t play a significant role in the future of logistics.

It just means we need more time, smarter systems, and better planning before we see the skies filled with whirring delivery bots. So keep your emergency stash of toilet paper handy—you might still need it for a while longer.

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But over a decade later, drone delivery hasn’t taken off in the way its pioneers envisioned. Despite groundbreaking prototypes and millions in investment, the skies remain eerily quiet. So what grounded the future of airborne delivery? This article unpacks the high hopes, harsh realities, and the nuanced journey of drone delivery — and why the revolution remains, for now, on standby.

The Early Promise: A Glimpse into a Sci-Fi Future

The idea of drone delivery captured the world’s imagination when Jeff Bezos dramatically unveiled Amazon Prime Air in 2013. The notion that packages could arrive within 30 minutes via autonomous flying machines was groundbreaking. It wasn’t just about faster shipping — it was about fundamentally transforming supply chains and reimagining consumer convenience.

Startups and tech giants alike rushed into the space. Google’s Wing, Zipline, and others joined the race, each bringing a unique vision. Zipline, notably, started strong in Rwanda, delivering blood and medical supplies to remote areas, earning praise for its life-saving applications. Meanwhile, Wing successfully ran test deliveries in Australia and the US, experimenting with air traffic control systems and drone-to-drone communication.

The hype was real. Investors were on board. Media headlines touted the arrival of a new logistics frontier. But then, something strange happened — or rather, didn’t happen. The skies stayed mostly clear.

What Grounded the Vision? The Reality Check

So why hasn’t drone delivery become mainstream?

1. Technological Complexities and Limitations

While building a drone that can carry a small package isn’t particularly hard in isolation, creating a reliable, scalable system for mass delivery is a different beast. Drones must navigate complex urban and suburban environments, avoid collisions, communicate with one another, and deliver goods accurately and safely — all without human intervention.

Companies quickly realized that building and managing this ecosystem was far more complex than simply engineering a drone. Weather challenges, battery limitations, and accurate drop-offs in densely populated areas introduced unforeseen hurdles.

Moreover, drones aren’t suitable for every package. They typically carry light, small items — not the typical bulk orders people place online. The use cases, it turned out, were narrower than anticipated.

2. Regulatory Turbulence

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and equivalent agencies worldwide have had to play catch-up with the pace of drone innovation. Developing airspace regulations that ensure safety, privacy, and accountability has proven difficult. To this day, companies must secure special permissions and exemptions to fly drones beyond a pilot’s line of sight — a key requirement for scalable operations.

While the FAA has made progress with initiatives like the UAS Integration Pilot Program and remote ID requirements, red tape continues to be a bottleneck for broader adoption.

3. Economic Viability and Cost Concerns

Another harsh reality: drones aren’t cheap. Developing the technology, maintaining it, managing a fleet, handling software, ensuring safety, and overcoming regulatory compliance all rack up costs. In sparsely populated or rural areas, the cost-benefit ratio makes more sense — like in Rwanda, where drones replace non-existent road infrastructure. But in developed urban markets, traditional ground delivery is still significantly cheaper.

Moreover, integrating drone delivery into existing logistics networks adds layers of operational complexity. Is the ROI worth it, especially when customers are already used to two-day (or even same-day) delivery with ground transport?

Zipline: The Silent Success Story

Despite the turbulence, not all drone dreams were grounded.

Zipline, a relatively low-profile startup compared to Amazon or Google, is arguably the most successful drone delivery company to date. Its focus wasn’t on hyped-up consumer applications but rather on solving a critical problem — delivering medical supplies in areas with poor infrastructure.

Starting in Rwanda and expanding to Ghana and Nigeria, Zipline has completed hundreds of thousands of deliveries, serving rural hospitals and saving lives. Its drones are fixed-wing, catapult-launched aircraft capable of flying over 50 miles, dropping packages by parachute.

Zipline understood something many tech giants overlooked: drones work best where alternatives are inefficient or unavailable. They avoided high-density urban areas and consumer deliveries, instead focusing on medical logistics — a space with high value and urgency.

Even now, Zipline continues to refine its technology. Its new drone model offers “autonomous delivery droids” that lower the package gently using a tether, allowing safe and precise drop-offs in populated areas — an innovation that may finally unlock urban delivery.

Amazon’s Drone Dream: An Expensive Detour?

Amazon’s journey, by contrast, has been rocky. After more than a decade of promises, Prime Air has yet to scale meaningfully. Despite initial test deliveries and the recent FAA approvals in select US towns like Lockeford, California, progress has been slow.

Insiders have spoken about internal friction, over-engineering, and shifting priorities. Regulatory hurdles and safety concerns have added further delays. At one point, reports emerged that Amazon’s drone unit was burning through cash without delivering results.

The company has now promised a new drone model and expanded delivery in select US cities by the end of 2024. But skepticism remains — both inside and outside the company.

The Recalibration: From Hype to Practicality

After years of lofty ambitions and media spectacles, drone delivery companies are now embracing a more pragmatic approach. Instead of aiming to replace UPS or FedEx, they’re carving out niche roles:

• Medical and Emergency Supplies: Drones shine when speed and accessibility are critical — such as delivering defibrillators, blood, or vaccines.
• Remote and Rural Deliveries: Areas with limited road infrastructure or unreliable supply chains benefit immensely from aerial logistics.
• Campus and Suburban Settings: Universities, tech parks, and planned suburban communities are experimenting with drone food and pharmacy deliveries — controlled environments with minimal regulatory risk.

By narrowing the focus, companies like Zipline, Flytrex, and DroneUp are slowly rebuilding credibility and proving the value of drone logistics.

Lessons Learned: What the Drone Saga Teaches Us

The drone delivery story is a case study in tech innovation, ambition, and realism. Here are a few takeaways:

• Not all technological dreams scale equally. What works in a controlled pilot or rural village doesn’t necessarily translate to mass-market adoption.
• Regulation matters. Innovation without policy alignment creates bottlenecks that can stall progress for years.
• User behavior and expectations evolve slowly. People like the idea of drones — but not at the cost of noise, safety concerns, or privacy violations.
• Incremental wins matter. Zipline’s quiet, mission-driven progress shows that success doesn’t always come with fanfare.

Conclusion: The Sky’s Not the Limit — Yet

Drone delivery was supposed to change the world. It hasn’t — at least not in the way we expected. But that doesn’t mean it failed. Instead of a flashy revolution, it’s becoming a slow, strategic evolution.

We’re still in the early chapters of drone logistics. As regulations mature, technology improves, and companies find the right niches, drones will likely play a meaningful — though not dominant — role in our delivery ecosystems.

Until then, keep an eye on the skies. The future may yet arrive. Just not in 30 minutes or less.

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The versatility of drones has led to their adoption across a spectrum of urban applications. From enhancing public security measures to providing high-resolution remote sensing capabilities, drones have proven instrumental in addressing the evolving needs of modern urban societies. Furthermore, their role in streamlining logistics operations, particularly in the realm of last-mile delivery, has garnered significant attention from major e-commerce players like UPS, Flytrex, and Amazon Prime Air.

Drone delivery holds immense promise for urban areas, offering a range of benefits that address longstanding challenges in traditional delivery systems. By leveraging urban airspace, drones have the potential to significantly reduce delivery times and alleviate traffic congestion on roadways. Moreover, advancements in drone technology have expanded their payload capacities, enabling them to carry multiple packages in a single trip. For instance, the Freefly Alta X1 drone boasts a maximum payload capacity of up to 15.9 kg, making it capable of handling multiple deliveries in a single sortie.

Overcoming Hurdles

Despite the potential benefits of drone delivery, several obstacles hinder their widespread adoption in urban airspace. Chief among these challenges are limitations in flying range, battery capacity, and regulatory constraints. Regulations governing drone operations, such as requirements to maintain line of sight and avoid restricted airspace, pose significant hurdles to the seamless integration of drones into urban delivery networks.

Technological Challenges:

• Limited Flying Range: One of the primary technological challenges facing drone delivery is the limited flying range of current drone models. While drones have the capability to cover significant distances, their operational range is often constrained by battery life and payload capacity. As a result, drones may struggle to complete long-distance deliveries without requiring frequent recharging or battery replacement, limiting their effectiveness in urban delivery networks.
• Battery Capacity: The battery capacity of drones is a critical factor that influences their range, flight duration, and payload capacity. Despite advancements in battery technology, current drone batteries often have limited capacities, constraining the distance and duration of flights. This limitation poses challenges for drone delivery operations, particularly in urban environments where efficient route planning and timely deliveries are essential.

Regulatory Challenges:

• Flight Regulations: Regulatory frameworks governing drone operations vary across different jurisdictions and often include restrictions on flight altitude, speed, and proximity to populated areas. For instance, many countries require drones to maintain line of sight with the operator, limiting their range and operational flexibility. Moreover, regulations may prohibit drones from flying over certain areas deemed sensitive or restricted, further complicating route planning for urban delivery networks.
• No-fly Zones and Restricted Areas: Urban environments are often characterized by a complex airspace landscape, including airports, helipads, and restricted zones such as government buildings or sensitive infrastructure. Navigating these no-fly zones and restricted areas poses a significant challenge for drone delivery operators, as they must ensure compliance with regulatory requirements while optimizing delivery routes and avoiding potential hazards.

Innovative Solutions:

Addressing these technological and regulatory challenges requires innovative solutions that balance safety, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Some potential approaches include:

• Advanced Battery Technology: Continued research and development in battery technology could lead to the development of lightweight, high-capacity batteries that extend the flight range and duration of drones. This would enhance the operational capabilities of drones for urban delivery applications, enabling them to cover longer distances and carry heavier payloads.
• Autonomous Navigation Systems: Advances in autonomous navigation systems and artificial intelligence could enable drones to navigate complex urban environments more effectively, mitigating the challenges associated with flight regulations and route planning. By leveraging real-time data and predictive algorithms, autonomous drones could optimize delivery routes, avoid restricted areas, and adapt to changing environmental conditions autonomously.
• Collaborative Regulatory Frameworks: Collaboration between industry stakeholders, regulatory authorities, and urban planners is essential to develop cohesive regulatory frameworks that support the safe and efficient integration of drones into urban airspace. This includes establishing clear guidelines for drone operations, defining designated flight corridors and landing zones, and implementing mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing compliance with regulations.

Conclusion

As drones continue to evolve and regulatory frameworks adapt to accommodate their integration into urban airspace, the potential for drone delivery to revolutionize urban logistics remains compelling. By addressing technological challenges and implementing innovative solutions like skyway networks, stakeholders can unlock the full potential of drone delivery in urban areas. With the ability to enhance efficiency, reduce congestion, and meet the evolving needs of consumers, drone delivery stands poised to reshape the urban landscape in the years to come.

In conclusion, the convergence of technological advancements and regulatory initiatives holds the key to realizing the transformative potential of drone delivery in urban environments. By overcoming existing challenges and embracing innovative solutions, stakeholders can usher in a new era of efficient and sustainable logistics powered by unmanned aerial vehicles.

The post Drone delivery in urban areas – Challenges and opportunities appeared first on RoboticsBiz.

Particularly for package delivery to end users, drones offer a ubiquity (i.e., anytime, anywhere), economic, quick, contactless, and environmentally friendly alternative. Several logistics firms, including Amazon, Google, and Alibaba, are investing in drone technology for delivery services.

In a skyway network, made up of line segments with endpoints that make up the network’s nodes, a package is transported using a drone from one location (such as a warehouse rooftop) to another.

The composition of drone delivery services creates a value-added service while meeting end-users QoS requirements, which include fast, safe, cost-effective, and contactless delivery. Drone-based delivery services provide myriad benefits from dual perspectives: service providers’ and service consumers’ perspectives.

Service provider perspective

A drone delivery service provider typically manages the delivery of packages to final customers while owning and operating a drone fleet. A warehouse with its fleet for product delivery could be a provider. A provider could also be a shipping and logistics business like UPS, Amazon, or Wing. Here are the main advantages from the standpoint of the service provider.

Labor efficiency

The main advantages for a service provider are cost reduction and profit growth. Delivery companies significantly reduce the cost of human labor by utilizing drones. One person can control a fleet of drones, unlike ground deliveries requiring numerous drivers. Only maintenance tasks and flight monitoring will require human intervention. Like an air traffic controller on commercial passenger planes, one employee would typically be able to keep an eye on several flights simultaneously. A third or less of what UPS charges for ground delivery is estimated to be the cost of each package delivered by drone.

Growing industry

Drones may be responsible for one-third of same-day deliveries by 2030, according to a recent study. The profit made by delivery service providers who embraced drone technology early will be reflected in this growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a recent increase in this rate. Lockdowns, quieter skies, and the demand for contactless deliveries sped up the testing and adoption of drone delivery systems. Between 2023 and 2030, the drone delivery service market is anticipated to expand at a 14.5% CAGR.

Nature of delivery orders

Amazon claims that 86% of their deliveries are under five pounds. Most commercial drones are only permitted to carry a certain weight, as permitted by flight authorities’ regulations. Therefore, delivery service providers that use drones can be sure there will be a high demand for them. Additionally, a drone delivery service provider may charge more for this added value because it can do so without incurring additional costs due to the quick delivery options provided by many businesses (for example, priority delivery in Uber Eats).

Medium and routing efficiency

Air is the quickest way to get from point A to point B. This is because there is less friction in the medium than on the ground. As a result, deliveries will be made more quickly, enabling drone re-use throughout the day. Furthermore, the route-based nature of air travel—point-to-point or controlled traffic in skyways—makes it simpler to distribute resources and determine relatively accurate delivery times and costs. Due to the infrastructure and traffic, these factors are unavoidable in ground deliveries. For instance, there are numerous instances of inefficiently planned multi-destination delivery trips when using in-ground delivery. Since these issues are lessened in the air, the reach is increased, and difficult-to-reach areas can be serviced. Because drone delivery has the advantage of using the air medium, it can cross rivers and difficult ground terrain.

Carbon gains

Drone deliveries reduce carbon emissions and gain quantitative advantages. This is crucial for a company to brand itself as environmentally friendly. Additionally, the cost of an electric power source is typically lower for drones than for ground deliveries that use fuel.

Service Consumer Perspective

The end user who orders the packages may be a service consumer. Alternatively, a drone-based service user may be contacted by restaurants, warehouses, and other benefits recipients who could use such services to effectively ship their goods. Here, we go over some of the main advantages from the viewpoint of the service user.

Fast delivery

Compared to terrestrial deliveries, drones provide a quicker option for package delivery. Alphabet’s Wing ensures quick delivery of packages by flying at a speed of 113 km/h. Another illustration is Amazon Prime Air, which promises to deliver packages in under 30 minutes. This feature is particularly important for the shipment of emergency supplies like defibrillators and medicine.

Cost-effective

Costs for delivery could be reduced using electric and self-driving drones. Reduced service fees are one way these cost savings can be transferred to the final customers. The ability of drone technology to travel farther in less time and at a lower cost per mile is largely responsible for this cost reduction. According to estimates, operating costs for drone deliveries are at least 70% lower than those for van deliveries.

Convenience and reach

On-demand drone delivery can help customers feel more convenient as their desire for speed grows. Road traffic can be avoided, and deliveries made by drones are swift. Furthermore, the delivery of emergency supplies to remote areas is frequently hampered by conventional means of ground deliveries due to the lack of infrastructure, challenging terrain, and severe weather conditions. Drone deliveries have proven essential to overcome transportation, delivery, and distribution issues and get goods to the last mile.

Safer delivery

A safer alternative to human-assisted deliveries is the contactless nature of drone deliveries. The demand for contactless deliveries rises, especially during pandemics, to stop the spread of disease. Additionally, because it is contactless, there may be less chance of consumer safety threats from imposter delivery drivers. Furthermore, due to the contactless nature of drone deliveries, many people experienced a decrease in face-to-face interactions and social anxiety disorders.

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Drones could drastically decrease labor costs and have been hyped as a potential disruptor to the parcel delivery industry. A drone has competitive advantages over conventional last-mile delivery using a truck, including lower costs, shorter delivery times, greater reach in areas with weak infrastructure, and lower CO2 emissions.

There are various operating models, from a drone-based last-mile delivery system where customers are served by drones (no trucks) to a shared truck-drone delivery model where customers can be performed by either trucks/drones.

Much research has been carried out in the last years on the potential use of drones for parcel delivery, principally in logistic optimization. This post will discuss the pros and cons of last-mile delivery drones.

Pros of delivery drones

Deliver products quickly: A delivery drone’s function is to offer services for quickly delivering goods to remote locations. These unmanned aerial vehicles can be programmed to provide particular goods from their base of operations to a specified location, such as the customer’s address. When customers need their goods delivered quickly and undamaged, this service can offer a bulk transfer of materials.

Improved time management: Consumers and the workers involved in the process gain from increased efficiency when delivery drones provide services for an organization. It enables people to concentrate on other crucial components of the purchase process. If the addresses submitted through a shopping cart are accurate, this service could potentially have a lower error margin thanks to accurate locating programs. Faster delivery of goods to customers; increased business turnover rates, which boost productivity.

Save energy: A delivery drone produces significantly fewer emissions than a standard package delivered by a traditional method. Because warehouses are conveniently located in most urban areas, airplanes would no longer need airplanes to transport some goods, delivery trucks to provide home delivery and other fossil fuel costs. Because there are fewer logistics to complete, shipping and handling charges are decreased. There might be fewer job openings due to this process, but there would be more jobs in the drone maintenance and programming field.

Save time: With the help of delivery drones, businesses can redirect their human capital toward imaginative, cutting-edge projects that will help them grow their product or service offerings. Employees will have more time to take care of the business’ routine tasks while ensuring that their customers receive a higher-quality product. This technology enables spending more time and money on concepts that may one day change the world instead of repetitive tasks that artificially keep production levels low.

Safer delivery: Due to their activities on the road, drivers who deliver packages to a customer’s home assume some risk. There is always a possibility that they could get into an accident, run out of fuel, or experience delays because of roadwork. Sometimes, delivery personnel must work in hazardous conditions, like a flight of slick stairs. Delivery drones make the system safer by taking many of these variables out of the picture. There is always the chance that a drone will crash or unintentionally release its package, but this risk is seen as an advantage from a comparative standpoint.

Higher efficiency: When a customer orders a product, delivery drones can navigate to a specific address automatically, thanks to GPS technologies. This technology has a higher success rate in the same task than humans. Even though some homes will never be accurately mapped by these systems (for example, a GPS guide telling a user to turn right would direct them into a building), this problem will eventually be solved as the technology advances.

Cons of delivery drones

Expensive: A significant investment in the company’s infrastructure is necessary to cover the cost of incorporating delivery drones into the company’s services. Due to this, only a few sizable companies are considering using this technology. For a drone that can make an accurate delivery, the average cost can reach $500. Even though smaller drones might cost around $50, it would take tens of thousands of them (along with the necessary programming staff) for a company like Amazon to make this idea a reality.

Battery defects: According to the Amazon Prime Air website, the company is “committed to realizing our vision of delivering packages by drones in 30 minutes or less.” Our current battery technologies are one of the factors requiring such a quick turnaround. The typical delivery drone’s power requirements could result in power loss in as little as 20 minutes. That might not be long enough to allow the drone to return to the company’s headquarters or to deliver the package to its intended location.

Higher risk of defects: Any vehicle we use to ship goods across the globe carries the risk of having a flaw that alters the way a business operates. Unpredictable breakdowns of aircraft can occur on a runway. Delivery vans might not want to start. All companies that manage their logistics are subject to this risk. The risk of failure for delivery drones using current technology is higher than for more conventional methods. Industrial drones have demonstrated that their systems are susceptible to collapse within the first year of use. One of these flaws during delivery operations would mess up the company’s logistics, increase budget expenses, and possibly lead to other problems.

Easily stolen: Disconnecting a delivery drone’s power system does not require much expertise. Businesses must also deal with this risk if they want to use this express delivery option. Anyone with a preferred e-commerce platform could order a small item and remove the equipment whenever possible. Once this happens, it might be difficult for the company to have any way to recall its goods. If this service becomes a reality, regulations and laws will probably need to be updated to consider this risk.

Privacy risk: A camera on a drone could be used by Amazon and other businesses to deliver packages, among other things. Supervisors would be notified via streaming video sent to the business’s headquarters if delivery had been made. Future thefts may be less likely with the aid of this technology. The drawback of using a drone-mounted camera is that it may capture images of people and properties unrelated to the transaction. People who are caught in this stream would not have given their consent. Here too, laws and regulations would need to be updated.

Property damage: Drone deliveries are not a perfect technological advancement. They have a good chance of accidentally damaging the house while doing their duty. Installing drone landing pads at a secure location on a homeowner’s property would be the only solution to this problem. This technological solution might have an RFID signal that turns on only when delivery is authorized, which might help to consolidate the various data streams that are currently available.

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According to The Drone Databook report, at least 95 countries now have drones, which could provide even the poorest state actors with aerial command of the battlespace previously only available to those with sophisticated aircraft programs. Non-state groups are increasingly turning to drones as a weapon of choice, using the technology for surveillance, battlespace management, propaganda, and aerial strike attacks, with varying degrees of success. Counter-drone systems will become a ubiquitous weapon in all future conflicts due to the proliferation of this technology, which is expected to continue apace in the coming years.

On the other hand, today’s counter-drone systems face several technical challenges, primarily because identifying and mitigating threats with currently deployed technologies has proven difficult. Counter-drone technology poses a wide range of challenges, including safety, practicality, policy, legality, and a simple question of effectiveness.

1. Detection effectiveness

There are flaws in every detection system. Radar systems, for example, may struggle to detect small drones and UAS flying close to the ground. Camera systems may misidentify a drone as a bird or an airplane, and they may struggle in bad weather with low visibility or when the drone is backlit by a strong light source like the sun.

RF sensors’ detection capabilities can be harmed by electromagnetic interference. Communications antennae, two-way radios, telemetry systems, and even power lines and LED lights are potential sources of interference in urban environments.

Certain RF sensors, including some marketed as “passive,” may emit RF signals that could interfere with other communications, making their deployment in some environments potentially dangerous.

To detect an intruding drone, radar, or certain RF systems, an EO/IR sensor requires a direct sight line. This could be especially problematic in urban areas, where a drone may only appear for a few seconds before disappearing from the line of sight of a sensor.

Some detection systems may only be able to provide a rough estimate of the location of an incoming drone. With automated tracking algorithms applied to radar or camera data, certain flight patterns—most notably hovering and moving vertically—can make drones harder to detect.

Acoustic sensors use a library of sounds emitted by known drones, and RF detection systems use a similar library to only detect specific frequency bands. Given the rapid rate at which drones are introduced to the market and grow in popularity, even frequently updated libraries will never be able to cover all of the drones in use at any given time.

2. False Negatives and False Positives

To be useful, C-UAS detection systems must produce a low number of false negatives and positives. This is a difficult task. All drones operating within the use area must be detected by C-UAS detection elements that are sensitive enough. Too sensitive systems, on the other hand, may generate an excessive number of false positives, rendering the system useless. In cluttered environments, distinguishing true positives from false positives requires “a high level of manpower,” according to FAA counter-drone system testing results.

3. Distinguishing Legitimate and Illegitimate Drone Use

It will become increasingly important for C-UAS operators to distinguish between legitimate and rogue drones in future operating environments where legitimate drone use is common. For example, at a large sporting event, the airspace may be clogged with legitimate aerial cinematography drones and rogue drones posing a security risk. According to one official involved in the operation, the FBI counter-UAS team was “seconds away” from mitigating a drone that turned out to be operating as part of a sanctioned cinematography service during its deployment to the 2019 Super Bowl.

C-UAS operators will need to develop means to quickly and reliably determine the threat level of an incoming UAV based on the limited information provided by existing detection technologies, especially given the potential hazards of mitigating a drone in civilian environments (Remote ID technology may go a long way to addressing this issue once implemented, but it will not be a total fix). This could also be a problem in the military, as a C-UAS system that can’t distinguish between friendly and enemy unmanned aircraft could accidentally shoot down friendly drones.

4. Response Window

Counter-drone operators may only have a few seconds to determine whether or not an incoming drone is malicious. Consider a security team protecting a large public gathering with a counter-drone system with a 750-meter effective identification range and an interdiction element that, if activated, could pose a level of risk to the crowd (see the following section). Assume a drone is flying at 15 meters per second toward the crowd (a fairly standard speed for many commercial systems available on the market today). The team will have less than 50 seconds to decide on an appropriate response in this case. Commercially available drones will become much faster in the coming years as propulsion technologies advance, further reducing the viable response window for C-UAS.

5. Interdiction Hazards

In certain circumstances, many, if not all, counter-drone interdiction techniques can be dangerous. Drones whose flight is disrupted by kinetic means may crash to the ground with a lot of force. Even net-based systems with a parachute to bring the trapped drone down to the ground in a controlled manner can be dangerous if the parachute fails to deploy properly or if the interception occurs at a low altitude. To hit a moving drone, interdiction elements must be extremely precise, and if they miss, they may endanger bystanders. Long-range effectors like lasers and high-powered microwaves could pose a serious threat to aircraft flying above a drone. Meanwhile, jamming systems can disrupt legitimate communications links in their vicinity; for example, if used at an airport, they could disrupt air traffic management operations. In areas where other entities rely on reliable GPS navigation, GPS jamming or spoofing systems are especially dangerous (for example, manned aircraft at an airport).
Cost

The cost of anti-drone technology is high. Even though most manufacturers do not publish their price lists, the lack of pricing information suggests that the technology is out of reach for many small businesses looking to protect their airspace. According to a 2019 Sandia National Laboratories study, 77 of the 123 C-UAS products with pricing information were more than $100,000. Two weeks after the Gatwick drone incident, the airport announced that it had already spent more than $6 million on counter-drone systems to prevent future incidents. According to Deutsche Flugsicherung, installing drone detection systems at Germany’s 16 busiest airports would cost more than half a billion euros. Additional costs for personnel training, maintenance, and staff time to operate the counter-drone system are significant.

6. Lack of Standards

There are no international standards for the proper design and implementation of C-UAS systems. This means there could be significant differences in performance and reliability between systems that appear very similar on the spec sheet. Because the demand for this technology has only recently emerged, many of the products offered by the companies we identified have not yet reached maturity. Some companies appear to be attempting to profit from the growing interest in this technology without properly maturing or field-testing their products. According to US security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, many systems actively marketed to US government customers do not perform as advertised. The lack of standards also raises concerns about the systems’ safety. A malfunctioning C-UAS system, particularly in civilian environments, could pose a public safety threat—consider a jamming system that interferes with emergency radio communications or a kinetic system that misses its intended target.

7. Privacy

Counter-drone detection systems are a type of surveillance technology, so if they’re misused, or the data they collect isn’t handled properly, they could put people’s privacy at risk. For drones operating across a large area, electronic identification systems could obtain personally identifiable information, such as the aircraft’s registration number.

Similarly, wide-area camera systems may inadvertently capture people or vehicles on the ground who are unrelated to the counter-drone operations. This is in addition to any private digital information obtained from a drone during detection and tracking, and forensic analysis. So far, there have been few attempts to assess how to mitigate the privacy risks that may arise from using these systems. Under the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018, US agencies with C-UAS authority must ensure that their operations comply with the First and Fourth Amendments, handle collected data responsibly, and destroy all intercepted drone communication data within 180 days. However, many civil or private C-UAS operators around the world are unlikely to have similar safeguards in place.

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As a result, the healthcare sector is embracing the advancement of drone technologies — also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and sees itself firmly as one of the market’s early adopters. Drones can significantly improve most medical supply transportation today, compared to specialist couriers, “blue lights,” or ambulances via road networks, which are significantly impacted by traffic congestions, especially in busy urban environments.

Typically, it takes two hours to complete a time-critical “blue light” shipment, e.g., by ambulance, between a city hospital and their blood bank with a representative 40 miles distance between them. This time includes the delivery time itself and the hospital staff’s processing time, which are almost equally split. From commissioning to receipt, each medical delivery journey can consume significant amounts of valuable time and resources that would have otherwise been used to support the hospital’s frontline services.

With an estimated 2.5 million movements (medical supplies, biological samples, and other items) between hospitals and associated sites within the UK alone, the development of an efficient UAV-based transport network between hospitals makes logistical and financial sense as well as provides a real opportunity to improve both patient wellbeing and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the pioneers in this area is the California-based company Zipline, specializing in humanitarian deliveries, such as delivering blood and medical supplies to remote locations by BVLOS flights. The company operates commercially in Rwanda and Ghana, having already provided more than 200,00 commercial hub-to-hub network deliveries, representing over 14 million autonomous BVLOS miles, delivering blood products via drones.

Within Europe, the drones have been trialed as part of emergency response by TU Delft, aiming to prevent deaths and accelerate recovery efforts through the provision of fast delivery of first aid items. These include Automated Defibrillators (AED) and two-way video communication between the first aiders and emergency services. Elsewhere, Google’s Project Wing has been testing UAV operations in Australia, aiming for disaster relief by delivering aid to affected areas, including water and medical supplies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been significant additional operational demands on regulators concerning the adoption of drones transporting medical supplies. The UK CAA has had to develop new approval policies that detail requirements and guidance for the approval of BVLOS UAV flight authorizations effectively and efficiently to respond to the surge in market interest.

Although there is limited data around the potential UAV medical delivery market, an extrapolation of the current market indicates a size of approximately $1.3bn by 2030, representing almost 5% of the total predicted UAV global market.

Early medical movement trials are showing impressive results. In May 2021, Skyports completed a 3-month demonstration project for UAV deliveries of medical supplies and Covid-19 tests between Lorn and Islands District General Hospital in Oban on Scotland’s west coast, to the Mull and Iona Community Hospital in Craignure on the Isle of Mull, which are 12 miles apart.

Using UAV services makes it possible to reduce delivery times to 15 minutes in comparison to 45 minutes typically required for both road and ferry. During these short-time trials, over 1,600 diagnostic samples weighing just a few grams from 884 patients were carried with achieved saving over 11,000 hours of the pathology sample transport time, which is normally performed by vans.

Benefits of drones in medical supply chain

Here are some of the key benefits of the use of drones in the medical supply chain.

• Safe: Reduced risk of errors and number of transfers related to deliveries. Improved security, traceability, and transparency in the delivery system.
• Effective: Reduced overcapacity in terms of payload and human resources.
  Patient-centered: Less waiting time for patients, which improves flow efficiency and patient centricity.
• Timely: Increased reliability in delivery lead time. Reduction in the number of deviations.
• Efficient: Increased utilization rates due to fewer delays and possibilities for further centralization.
• Equitable: Improved flexibility of deliveries in terms of both location and time.

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However, there is an indispensable need to redesign and optimize the last mile, especially since 28% of a product’s value is today allocated to the costs of the last mile. According to a report, a 40% reduction in delivery costs can lead to a 15-20% increase in profit margin, resulting in a 15-20% price decrease.

The rising demand of the consumers towards a flexible and more convenient execution of the delivery presents another big challenge in the last mile. Consumers expect ever-shorter delivery times and free shipping while receiving and returning more deliveries than ever.

Trying to cope with these challenges in a fast-changing and competitive environment pushes logistics companies – whether small or large – to their limits. Hence, it is necessary to explore alternative means of transportation to avoid a standstill in the last mile.

Autonomous aerial and ground vehicles such as drones and robots are among the promising methods to execute the last mile delivery, as they can use the existing infrastructure, i.e., roads and airspace. They are found to reduce the cost per delivery and delivery time on the one hand and increase consumer satisfaction through enhanced service quality on the other hand.

Autonomous delivery vehicles can address most of the challenges of the last mile, considering the traffic environment and congestion, safety and energy savings, and the interests of consumers.

1. Delivery Drones

Urban mobility can be drastically improved by moving goods from the ground to the air, using unmanned aerial vehicles or drones for transportation. They can be pre-programmed for autonomous flights, and the control functions are either onboard or remotely controlled. Delivery drones are an interesting alternative for last mile delivery because they address many of the challenges of the last mile, which cannot be handled with existing means of transportation. As drones are operated without a human pilot and work electrically, they have reduced consumption of resources as no fuel and drivers are needed. Thus, unmanned electric means of transport have advantages in operating costs over a manned ground vehicle with fuel and labor costs for drivers and the potential to decrease delivery costs. By moving in the airspace, they can also use straight-line routes and avoid traffic jams, allowing more constant and higher speeds for deliveries.

In addition, greenhouse gas emissions and energy use can be reduced due to the low consumption of resources. But also, drones can relieve traffic, which is a big problem, especially in larger cities. Avoiding traffic jams and using straight-line routes brings advantages from the consumer’s point of view as well. Due to the avoidance of traffic, there are usually hardly any delays in drone deliveries. As a result, the delivery window is much smaller and more accurate, allowing consumers to plan better and miss fewer deliveries. Drone delivery combined with mobile phone applications would also ensure traceability and termination conditions to meet the highest consumer demand probability. In addition, drones facilitate same-day delivery, which plays an important role for consumers nowadays. A study shows that almost 25% of consumers are willing to pay significant price advantages for delivery services such as same-day delivery or immediate delivery.

However, the competitiveness of drones is limited in certain areas. Due to current battery technology, the geographical range of drones is limited to 30 to 40 min of travel per dispatch. The drones are only suitable for shorter distances and cannot be used for long distances. Drones are also limited in terms of packages per shipment. Due to the extremely high number of parcels that must be delivered daily, thousands of drones would be necessary to handle the parcel volume. Technical problems pose challenges in the use of delivery drones. Criminal activities could also become a problem. Civilian GPS signals were developed as an open standard, freely accessible to all, which could have a major drawback: they can easily be counterfeited or spoofed. This allows criminals to control a drone through cyberattacks without the drone operators being aware of a security breach.

2. Delivery Robots

Another promising alternative to standard delivery vehicles is ground-based delivery robots that deliver items to consumers without requiring delivery persons. These are mechanical devices that are programmable and multi-task, moving freely in the environment and overcoming obstacles without assistance.

Delivery robots find applications in three main areas. One area of application is express deliveries and deliveries with a narrow time window. The robot delivery provides a 15 to 20-minute time window, whereas traditional delivery usually only specifies the day of delivery. Considering consumers’ rising expectations, such as faster and more reliable delivery services, these can be satisfied by offering timed delivery windows through delivery by robots.

Further, these robots are used to deliver fresh food and beverages as they can keep them warm or cool. Lastly, they can bring home groceries from a supermarket. Delivery robots present an innovative technology that can relieve the couriers. They can offer a solution for retailers and logistics companies to increase supply chain efficiency and reduce costs. The robots have a decisive advantage over conventional means of transport such as trucks or vans, as they can reduce traffic and thus congestion.

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The second most discussed benefit is the ability of drones to improve access to health services in difficult to reach areas with a specific focus on how they can alleviate health service access issues in rural communities.

The third benefit is the potential for improved clinical outcomes (e.g., survival following cardiac arrest and major traumatic injuries) often associated with the ability of drones to improve response times for emergency services. Drones can transport biological samples (e.g., blood, plasma, organs, and other tissues) to facilitate search and rescue operations for emergency service delivery to support first responder safety, and for remote medical support.

This post will present some of the top scientific studies conducted on drone use in healthcare applications, especially in North America, which includes vast regions of Canada, the United States, and Mexico that are primarily rural, distances between major urban centres.

• Time series UAV image-based point clouds for landslide progression evaluation applications (2017)
• Exploring the use of a drone to guide a blind runner (2016)
• Can unmanned aerial systems (Drones) be used for the routine transport of chemistry, hematology, and coagulation laboratory specimens? (2015)
• Drone transport of microbes in blood and sputum laboratory specimens. (2016)
• Drone Transport of Chemistry and Hematology Samples over Long Distances. (2017)
• Drones in medicine—the rise of the machines (2017)
• The case for drone-assisted emergency response to cardiac arrest (2019)
• Optimizing a Drone Network to Deliver Automated External Defibrillators. (2017)
• The promising future of drones in prehospital medical care and its application to battlefield medicine (2019)
• Assessing and reinitializing wildland fire simulations through satellite active fire data. (2018)
• The use of unmanned aerial vehicles for health purposes: a systematic review of experimental studies. (2018)
• What role can unmanned aerial vehicles play in emergency response in the Arctic: A case study from Canada. (2018)
• Natural disasters: Drone spy plane helps fight California fires. (2007)
• An interconnected architecture for an emergency medical response unmanned aerial system. (2017)
• Fast and safe gas detection from underground coal fire by drone fly over. (2017)
• Organ delivery by 1000 drones. (2016)
• Blood-delivering drones saving lives in Africa and maybe soon in Canada. (2018)
• Identification of swimmers in distress using unmanned aerial vehicles: Experience at the Mont-Tremblant IRONMAN triathlon (2020)
• Comparison of unmanned aerial vehicle technology-assisted triage versus standard practice in triaging casualties by paramedic students in a mass-casualty incident scenario. (2018)
• Comparison of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology Versus Standard Practice in Identification of Hazards at a Mass Casualty Incident Scenario by Primary Care Paramedic Students. (2018)
• A model for safe transport of critical patients in unmanned drones with a ‘watch’ style continuous anesthesia sensor. (2018)
• Drone-Aided Healthcare Services for Patients with Chronic Diseases in Rural Areas. (2017)
• Focus on: Drone applications in health care (2018)
• Drone delivery of Medications: Review of the landscape and legal considerations. (2018)
• Drone-Based Automatic External Defibrillators for Sudden Death?: Do We Need More Courage or More Serenity? (2017)
• An initial investigation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and real-time organ status measurement for transporting human organs. (2018)
• The final frontier? Exploring organ transportation by drone. (2019)
• First Report of Using Portable Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drones) for Search and Rescue. (2017)
• Delivery of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) by Drones: Implications for Emergency Cardiac Care. (2018)

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