FAA-approved urban drone delivery services Flirtey and Dr. Timothy Amukele, assistant professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will conduct the first ship-to-shore drone delivery in the U.S. on June 23 on the New Jersey coastline.
The purpose of the joint mission is to demonstrate how unmanned aircraft can provide life-saving aid to victims of a disaster, such as a hurricane or system-wide failure of electrical or communications infrastructure.
Amukele has previously led successful research on the viability of using medical drones to transport blood samples and blood products, and is serving as a volunteer advisor to the project.
Flirtey and Amukele will conduct the flights at the invitation of disaster preparedness non-profit Field Innovation Team (FIT), which is also hosting guests from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA), as part of the Drones in Disasters Do Tank. FIT’s Do Tanks enable experts from a variety of fields to come together and collaborate to develop solutions to humanitarian disaster scenarios. Goals of the event include educating the private sector on humanitarian response and aeronautical research into the integration of drones into the national air space.
Flirtey will fly drones carrying medical samples for emergency testing between an onshore medical relief camp at Cape May and a test facility on a vessel stationed off the coast. In a round trip, Flirtey drones will also deliver medical supplies from the vessel to the onshore medical camp.
The Future Imagined:
- Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeny imagines a future where Flirtey drones can reach out emergency medical supplies, food and water in the event of a natural disaster like Hurricane.
- Flirtey’s Tom Boss foresaw a potential to interoperate with key government relief assets in providing urgent aid and advanced diagnosis tools into a disaster zone.
- Matel-Anderson, founder Desiree finds a method to empower people to create cutting-edge disaster solution.
- United Nations expects a large implications for global humanitarian efforts.
Ship-to-shore aid and medical deliveries by drone require a high technical precision that Flirtey has been rapidly developing over a period.
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Source: Global Trade Magazine
