CNET reports
on a cool proof of concept–delivering life-saving drugs by UAV in
parts of Africa where road are poot. I’ve advised that team that fixed
wing UAVs might be a better choice for those distances, but they’re keen
on totally automated delivery and return:
“At the graduation ceremony of the Singularity University this week, I was introduced to another real-world, save-the-world company that’s applying quadcopter technology: Matternet.
This
particular class of S.U. was focused on solving problems for “the next
billion people,” those without access to modern technology. Matternet
tackled the problem of getting drugs and diagnostic or test materials to
people in rural areas in developing countries that don’t have access to
passable roads during rainy seasons.
The
company proposed building a network of robotic drones to deliver
medication quickly and very cost-effectively–even less than a guy on a
dirt bike costs.
Matternet
team leader Andreas Raptopoulos told me the nominal range of his
quadcopters is 10 kilometers when carrying a 2-kilogram load (range
changes with load). Landing pads act as beacons to augment GPS and guide
the copters to precise landings.
While
the company is building its prototype business around quadcopters,
Raptopolous told me Matternet is platform-agnostic. That makes sense,
since fixed-wing drones would be faster and have much greater range (but
they couldn’t land as precisely).
In
phase two of the company’s rollout, it plans to add automated
recharging stations to its networks, both to improve turnaround time and
reliability, and to allow the installation of way stations that could
swap or recharge batteries automatically to extend the range of the
copters.
The
business is straightforward: Matternet will charge aid companies for
delivery services. Currently, Raptopolous says, the Dominican Republic
is financing a pilot project for the company.
The Matternet quadcopters are based on open-source technology from DIY Drones.
The automatic control systems and flight programming tools are
well-developed, Raptopolous says. The flying vehicles themselves are
custom built, for robustness. They should cost a few hundred dollars
each.
Almost
all the demos at the Singularity event were for real-world and really
clever products, but this one flipped the most switches for me.
Matternet is trying to create, essentially, a modern, long-distance
version of the pneumatic tubes that hospitals use to shuttle samples and
papers around. That technology is just as out there, when you think
about it, as building giant Habitrails into buildings must have seemed
at the time. But look how pervasive it became.
I’m
also fascinated that this autonomous-helicopter form factor (four
rotors, each with its own motor, on a platform about 3 feet across) is
becoming a standard development platform for low-cost flying bots. I
wonder where we’ll see these things pop up next.