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Goods delivery with Drones

Following the success of Unmanned Aircrafts, UAs (drones) in surveillance and remote sensing, drone delivery systems have begun to emerge as an alternative to trucks and vans for handling last-mile delivery. Drone delivery solutions are expected to reduce delivery costs, delivery time, congestion, GHG and local emissions in urban areas and hence free up space at ground level to create healthier, livable cities.

Shared autonomous drone package delivery system operations

The drone delivery concept is perhaps the most promising for sensitive cargo. The potential use cases are package,  food and meal deliveries by drones into private properties, and package delivery into a central delivery hub. Drones have potential also in time-critical medical applications, such as the delivery of organs or stored blood. 

Most of the developed concepts of drones rely upon battery electric propulsion systems, a minority of the developers is working on hybrid electric propulsion systems. Among the drone cargo delivery concepts, the lift + cruise aircraft is the preferred archetype at present, followed by wingless and vectored thrust. The stated payload of the concepts ranges from 0.7 to 200 kg. Most of the concepts are planned to be autonomous during initial operation.

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EnergySustainable fuelTechnologyTransport and mobility
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