Recommended drone for dropping emergency supplies

rnb · Oct 1, 2018

Hi all, first post! As the tech/marketing guy at our company who files a Mavic for marketing videos my superiors have come to me to see what options are available in the drone world for dropping emergency supplies (like medicine) to our teams in the field. At this point I'm most interested in learning if in fact there are drones out there that can accomplish this task (ie. as opposed to being schooled on legalities or regulations). I've read there are long range drones coming on the market recently but would like to get some opinions from the experts here. Essentially we are in a jungle environment with geologists out in the field up to 100kms from civilization and if they step on a snake or get bitten by a tarantula things go bad quick. It would increase safety factor huge amounts if we could take their gps location from a Spot beacon, punch them into the drone, and hit Go... have it fly out drop at the coordinates... fly back (obviously simplified but you get the idea). We've been at this for a year and have only had one snake bite death threat so it's not like we're doing 500 shipments a day, emergency use only. Considering the potential safety add, I believe we are willing to spend quite a fair amount to have this as a fallback option.

Can anyone help me understand what commercial (or home brew!) options are available for, as a guess, 100km range and a payload of, say, up to 10lbs? I'm not even sure if this is possible... I assume by throwing enough money at a problem anything is possible though.

Thanks for helping me move out of being a complete green belt in long range drone options. =]

BigAl07 · Oct 1, 2018

Nothing that can be affordable will reach anywhere near those ranges. You're looking for something that the Govt is currently using for $$$$$ to reach those ranges.

Welcome to the forum

clackey · Oct 1, 2018

There is at least one company doing this, Zipline. They are offering it more as a service for 3rd world governments and NPOs vs selling the technology.
Zipline — Lifesaving Deliveries by Drone

rnb · Oct 1, 2018

wow... so basically, it's not going to happen. The Zipline is a big deal... figuratively and a physically, for the infrequent usage we had in mind. I guess by the time you add enough battery to a quadcopter to get 100km range it'd be like the impossible task of flying a car battery around lol. =\

R Martin · Oct 1, 2018

rnb said:
Can anyone help me understand what commercial (or home brew!) options are available for, as a guess, 100km range and a payload of, say, up to 10lbs? I'm not even sure if this is possible... I assume by throwing enough money at a problem anything is possible though.

Thanks for helping me move out of being a complete green belt in long range drone options. =]

From what I have seen offered, you can have a 100km of range or a 10 pounds carrying capacity but not both unless you are willing to buy into a 50+ pounds class UAS that will run you over $100,000.00 (and that price is just a number for comparison; not an actual figure). I found a few examples of the 100-200km range but the carrying capacity is limited to a very lightweight camera. I also found examples that will carry 10-15 pounds of payload but their ranges are extremely limited.
Might look into the hybrids that run on hydrogen. There again, in order to carry a payload that heavy you are looking at a large UAS to lift and then fly 100km.

rnb · Oct 1, 2018

Yowsers... 100k is not small fry. We were willing to fork up to $25k.. sounds like I've exceeded the 'have cake and eat it too' barrier with the 10lb payload at 100km range. Knocking back expectations, our range could be shortened to 30kms (drive at top speed as close as possible to the geo's location instead of launch from field office) and the payload to 2lbs (a couple of syringes with anti-venom etc).

Would reducing the requirements that drastically open up many more possibilities? I would think it'd have to be something like a quadcopter vs the zipline 'plane' to reduce operator skill, and landing/take off complexity while on the move.

Thanks for the input... I feel already like I'm getting a better sense of the current uav capabilites available.

Meta4 · Oct 1, 2018

rnb said:
Can anyone help me understand what commercial (or home brew!) options are available for, as a guess, 100km range and a payload of, say, up to 10lbs? I'm not even sure if this is possible... I assume by throwing enough money at a problem anything is possible though.

This is what you you are looking for:

R Martin · Oct 2, 2018

Meta4 said:
This is what you you are looking for:

The cheapest of the Bell variety I found was a '78 206B for around $225,000.00

Meta4 · Oct 2, 2018

R Martin said:
The cheapest of the Bell variety I found was a '78 206B for around $225,000.00

You don't have to own a helicopter to use a helicopter.
And chartering a helicopter would achieve exactly what the OP is asking for.

R Martin · Oct 2, 2018

rnb said:
Yowsers... 100k is not small fry. We were willing to fork up to $25k.. sounds like I've exceeded the 'have cake and eat it too' barrier with the 10lb payload at 100km range. Knocking back expectations, our range could be shortened to 30kms (drive at top speed as close as possible to the geo's location instead of launch from field office) and the payload to 2lbs (a couple of syringes with anti-venom etc).

Would reducing the requirements that drastically open up many more possibilities? I would think it'd have to be something like a quadcopter vs the zipline 'plane' to reduce operator skill, and landing/take off complexity while on the move.

Thanks for the input... I feel already like I'm getting a better sense of the current uav capabilites available.

Honestly, this i snot a job for the current crop of UASs. What you want is something that is going to operate well outside of VLOS over terrain that is going to present its own challenges. Short of a military UAV, I doubt you are going to find something that meets the bill. Also, and this is a personal observation, if I was up the creek without a paddle and I had my choice of an EMS bird with trained personnel or a UAS with a shot, I think I would go with the professional approach every time. My opinion is based upon two things: (a) trained personnel are going to be equipped to manage the crisis a hell of a lot more effectively (including any complications that might come as a result of the initial treatment), and (b), a helicopter, while not the fastest beast on the planet, is a whole lot faster than a UAS. That is just my opinion for what little its worth.

R Martin · Oct 2, 2018

Meta4 said:
You don't have to own a helicopter to use a helicopter.
And chartering a helicopter would achieve exactly what the OP is asking for.

For an emergency response in a remote location, I think I would have a helicopter sitting on the pad that is mine rather than trying to stir one up in a foreign country during an emergency when time is critical. But that is just me....maybe I just place a little more value on my own skin than most people. I might be worth more dead to my family, but I choose to go kickin' and screamin' rather than just giving up the ghost without a fight. $250K is chickenfeed in that regard.

rnb · Oct 2, 2018

Lol thanks for the opinions on how best to rescue a person, we have access to 3rd party EMS for extraction if/when required. The point here was specifically to gain an understanding of current UAV capabilities with respect to range and payload. Knowing if it's possible, and how fast one could fly help to a location seemed a valid query. Gotta be practical, risk is part of life and work, helping mitigate that risk in yet another way is the point of this investigation.

LUIS MARTINEZ · Oct 2, 2018

rnb said:
Hi all, first post! As the tech/marketing guy at our company who files a Mavic for marketing videos my superiors have come to me to see what options are available in the drone world for dropping emergency supplies (like medicine) to our teams in the field. At this point I'm most interested in learning if in fact there are drones out there that can accomplish this task (ie. as opposed to being schooled on legalities or regulations). I've read there are long range drones coming on the market recently but would like to get some opinions from the experts here. Essentially we are in a jungle environment with geologists out in the field up to 100kms from civilization and if they step on a snake or get bitten by a tarantula things go bad quick. It would increase safety factor huge amounts if we could take their gps location from a Spot beacon, punch them into the drone, and hit Go... have it fly out drop at the coordinates... fly back (obviously simplified but you get the idea). We've been at this for a year and have only had one snake bite death threat so it's not like we're doing 500 shipments a day, emergency use only. Considering the potential safety add, I believe we are willing to spend quite a fair amount to have this as a fallback option.

Can anyone help me understand what commercial (or home brew!) options are available for, as a guess, 100km range and a payload of, say, up to 10lbs? I'm not even sure if this is possible... I assume by throwing enough money at a problem anything is possible though.

Thanks for helping me move out of being a complete green belt in long range drone options. =]

If you are willing to downsize some of the specs a bit you may want to contact these folks.
BirdsEyeView Aerobotics - Welcome to the Revolution

NicaDrone OpenGrab EPM

Here's the email to Erich Freymann, their chief instructor and FF6 expert - [email protected]
Perhaps the company will work with your needs.

rnb · Oct 2, 2018

Yep see post #6 in this thread... instead of asking about maximum capabilities I dropped down to minimums: 30kms w/ 2lbs.

Thanks for the info, I'll check in with BirdsEye... much appreciated!

LUIS MARTINEZ · Oct 2, 2018

FF6 can easily do that. And it is VTOL, A desirable feature in the jungle.

rnb · Oct 2, 2018

Wow.. and only $6k! Nice... I just shot them an email... very interested. Sweet.

ps. Ahhh crumbs, unless I'm reading or understanding incorrectly the biggest FireFLY6 has ony 2.4 square kilometers of 'coverage'. I wonder what that means in terms of 'range' exactly.... ie. straight out and back.

LUIS MARTINEZ · Oct 2, 2018

I attended the factory school in New Hampshire last year, the class included a girl from South Africa. Her company was mapping some pretty large areas. See if the can put you in contact with her, I forgot her name.

rnb · Oct 2, 2018

That's great... a very good lead for sure. It looks like a UAV aimed at farmers... that's why they quote range as 'coverage over acres'. I'll see what Erich says and post back. Cheers for the lead!