- On April 19, F-drones completed the first commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone delivery in Singapore.
- The 2.7 km flight delivered 2kg of vitamins to a ship anchored off the island in just 7 minutes.
- F-Drones Is The first company to receive authorization from CAAS for such deliveries.
- Besides being efficient, delivery drones can also reduce unnecessary human contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
F-Drones, a Singapore-based drone delivery service company, had claimed the city state’s first commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone delivery, reports Singapore Foodie.
The drone delivered two kilograms of vitamins over 2.7 kilometers in seven minutes to a ship managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), which is one of the world’s largest privately-owned ship managers. EPS is F-drones’ first paying customer.
“EPS has been part of F-drones’ test deliveries since November 2019, when they joined the Eastern Pacific Accelerator powered by Techstars,” says Gil Ofer, the head of Open Innovation at Eastern Pacific Shipping.
He added, “We believe their solutions will play a significant role in reducing shipping’s overall carbon footprint. The successful BVLOS delivery is a milestone event, and we are extremely proud to be part of their journey.”
BVLOS drone deliveries
Launched a little over a year ago, F-drones is the first company in Singapore to receive an authorization from the aviation authority to conduct BVLOS drone deliveries to ships in Singapore.
F-drones is currently using an off-the-shelf drone that can deliver five-kilogram loads over five kilometers, but the company is developing large-scale delivery drones that are fully electric and autonomous.
Its goal is to use these drones to send 100-kilogram loads over 100 kilometers to ships and offshore platforms, which would help alleviate the pain of sending supplies in marine and offshore applications, which rely on small boats and helicopters.
‘Hyperlaunch’ for higher loads
F-drones plans to complete the development of this drone in the second half of 2021. For now, though, the company is on its third prototype, known as Hyperlaunch.
Hyperlaunch would be able to deliver five-kilogram loads over 50 kilometers to ships.
Once further testing is completed and improvements are made, F-drones plans to start commercial operations using the drone towards the end of this year.
“These traditional means of transport are expensive, slow, labour and carbon intensive. F-drones’ solutions can help save up to 80% of the costs, time and CO2 emissions,” says Nicolas Ang, CEO of F-drones.
Besides being efficient, delivery drones can also reduce unnecessary human contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Source: Singapore Foodie
