While drones work great on the battlefield to deliver a payload that will finish off security threats and known enemies from afar without having to endanger the lives of the footsoldier, they also function well as a law-enforcement unit that will keep a keen eye out for litterbugs, at least over in Dubai. With Zipline, the company hopes that their drones will be able to help save lives in developing countries. How so, you ask? Well, Zipline has plans to make use of its drone fleet in order to deliver medications to rural clinics, and they will be kicking off this effort with Rwanda in July.
The whole idea began when one of the founders of Zipline, Rinaudo, met a researcher who had accumulated enough data for a database which let health workers send text alerts whenever they needed blood or other kinds of medical supplies. With so many names filling up the spreadsheet quickly, where time is of the essence if one were to remain alive, the researcher could not do much as there was no means to dispatch the required medication and equipment due to poor infrastructure.
Hence, Zipline was created, and each Zip drone might cost as much as a motorcycle, except that it will be able to deliver medications, where it will air-drop its payload before making a return to the distribution center. Each drone can make anywhere from 50 to 150 such deliveries a day, setting off all over 21 clinics across the Western half of Rwanda. How’s that for a good start?
Filed in . Read more about Drones. Source: theatlantic