Delivery drone
Unmanned aerial vehicles designed to transport goods efficiently.
Delivery drones are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) built to carry lightweight cargo like packages, medicine, food, and mail. Major companies including Amazon, DHL, and FedEx have adopted them for deliveries. These drones proved especially valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully moving millions of vaccines and medical supplies around the world. Their main advantage is high efficiency: they cut delivery times sharply and bypass many issues that ground vehicles face.
Delivery drones can operate autonomously, semi-autonomously, or via remote control. Most are either terrestrial or aerial, though aquatic models also exist.
**Healthcare delivery** Drones have been used to transport blood, vaccines, drugs, first aid gear, and medical samples. They can reach remote or hard-to-access areas faster than ambulances, which is critical in emergencies. Medical drone deliveries have saved lives during blood runs in Rwanda and after hurricanes in Puerto Rico, as well as during earthquakes in Haiti and Taiwan and natural disasters in Nepal. During the pandemic, drones delivered PPE and COVID-19 tests in the United States, Israel, and Ghana. In Ghana, Zipline drones worked with the Ministry of Health to deliver thousands of vaccine vials. In Canada, Drone Delivery Canada Corp was chosen for a program serving the Stellat'en First Nation in British Columbia. Ireland's Manna pivoted from food to essential medical deliveries in March 2020, delivering prescription meds and food to isolated residents in Moneygall; Ireland's health service designated it an essential service. UK-based Windracers completed its first medical UAV flight in December 2020, carrying supplies from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly. In 2021, Skyports drones ran a three-month project carrying COVID-19 samples and test kits from Mull and other locations to a hospital in Oban. In August 2022, St Mary's Hospital on the Isle of Wight began a pilot scheme receiving medicine flown in from a mainland pharmacy.
**Food delivery** Drones have been proposed for delivering prepared foods like pizza, tacos, and frozen drinks. Instead of using cars, bikes, or trucks, drones fly over urban areas with minimal human involvement. Foodpanda tested food deliveries in Singapore with multirotor drones from ST Engineering and in Pakistan with VTOL drones.
- Greenhouse gas emissions per package cal
- 0.42 kg
- Truck emissions per package california
- 1 kg
- Emission reduction percentage
- 54%
- Potential annual road mile reduction vir
- 294 million miles
- Covid-19 vaccine vials delivered ghana
- thousands
Lore & Background
Delivery drones can be autonomous, semi-autonomous, or remote-controlled. The most common types are terrestrial and aerial, but they can also be aquatic. Medical supplies represent a particularly promising category due to their life-saving potential, leading to widespread testing in drone delivery systems. Numerous countries have conducted trials and pilot projects, including Australia, Canada, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, the UK, and the US. During the COVID-19 pandemic, drones made medical deliveries of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests in the United States, Israel, and Ghana. In partnership with the Ghana Ministry of Health, Zipline drones delivered thousands of COVID-19 vaccine vials in Ghana during 2020 and 2021. Irish drone-delivery startup Manna restructured to start making essential deliveries of prescription medication and food to isolated residents in the village of Moneygall as the pandemic started in March 2020. UK-based autonomous drone operator Windracers completed its first successful UAV flight in December 2020, taking medical supplies from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly. In 2021, Skyports drones began a 3-month project carrying COVID-19 samples and test kits from Mull, Clachan-Seil and Lochgilphead to Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban. In August 2022, St Mary's Hospital on the Isle of Wight was selected to participate in a pilot scheme for receiving medicine delivered by delivery drones from the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust's pharmacy on the mainland.
Reader's Guide
Delivery drones have demonstrated significance in healthcare, food, postal, retail, and ship resupply contexts. In healthcare, drones have served a role in transporting blood, vaccines, pharmaceutical drugs, first aid equipment, and medical samples, navigating remote areas with rapid response times. Medical drone delivery is credited with saving lives during emergency deliveries of blood in Rwanda and post-hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, as well as responding to earthquakes in Haiti and Taiwan and natural disasters in Nepal. For food delivery, Foodpanda piloted deliveries in Singapore using multirotor drones from ST Engineering and in Pakistan using VTOL drones. Postal companies from Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom have undertaken trials; in 2021 Windracers' drones delivered post between Kirkland and North Ronaldsay in Scotland's Orkney Islands in a two-week trial by Royal Mail. Retail giants Google, Amazon, 7-Eleven, and Walmart have conducted trials. Research shows drone delivery of a small package can reduce carbon emissions by 54% compared to truck deliveries in California. In maritime logistics, Maersk and the Port of Rotterdam have experimented with using drones to resupply offshore ships, with VTOL drones offering cost savings, operational efficiency, and zero emissions.
Did You Know?
- Irish drone-delivery startup Manna restructured to deliver prescription medication and food to isolated residents in Moneygall as the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020.
- A study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found drone delivery of a small package in California results in about 0.42 kg of greenhouse gas emissions, a 54% reduction compared to truck deliveries.
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