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by ibgames

EARTHDATE: January 15, 2017

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REAL LIFE NEWS: DRONES USED TO TRANSPORT MEDICINE

by Hazed

Using drones as delivery robots has been in the news recently for consumer deliveries, with takeaway food due to be delivered by robots in London and Amazon still looking at using drones to deliver its parcels. But here’s a use for delivery drones that is a much more important: it could save lives.

In Rwanda, drones are being used in a trial to deliver life-saving supplies of blood and vaccines, in a project backed by UPS, the international delivery company.

The drone flights which started last August deliver blood and vaccines to half of the country’s transfusion centres. The deliveries are made 20 times faster than by land.

The scheme is being run by a partnership which includes robotics company Zipline and Gavi, a group that provides vaccines to poor countries. UPS has given the partnership a grant of $800,000 as well as offering logistical support.

As well as bringing life-saving medicines to remote areas, the trial will also act as a test of the concept, in the hope it can then be applied to services in the US. At a presentation recently, the chief executive of Zipline, Keller Rinaudo, said, “Tens of thousands of hours of flight logged in an environment where it’s much easier” to operate will help make package delivery a reality in the United States.

So if the Rwanda delivery drones can iron out problems, such as battery life and safety, then delivery drones in the skies of London or New York could soon become a reality.

Source: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2016/10/drone-blood-delivery-service-launches-in-rwanda/

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