Drone Delivery Canada innovation on track
31 / 01 / 2022
Photo: Drone Delivery Canada
Development and testing of Drone Delivery Canada’s new cargo drone is progressing on schedule.
Drone Delivery Canada said the ‘Canary’, which is expected to have a range of approximately 20km and cargo capacity of 4kg, will feature smart battery technology and “touchless” cargo drop functionality.
The drone is successfully progressing through the company’s flight-testing programme involving aircraft tuning at altitude (pitch, yaw, roll) and aircraft ground and vibration testing.
Current ongoing testing includes flight controller tuning to fly in semi-autonomous flight modes, and refining onboard avionics, payload and communications systems.
The next steps are testing full autonomous missions and expanding the flight envelope, said Drone Delivery Canada.
In addition to next generation smart battery technology and touchless cargo drop functionality, the Canary’s features currently include a new motor configuration, an optional public announcement system and an optional aircraft parachute.
This new functionality is intended to potentially unlock additional customer use-cases, with a view to moving into markets in urban and residential areas for B2B and also B2C retail residential deliveries.
Initial fourth quarter 2021 successful testing included avionics system configuration, communications with the FLYTE management system, communications with the next generation smart battery system, propulsion system (motor spin/direction) testing, and onboard sensor testing.
The flight range and cargo capacity of the Canary will be confirmed via future testing.
“We’re pleased to see continued successful Canary testing on target and to be working towards its commercialisation,” said Michael Zahra, president & CEO of DDC. “Its new functionality, especially the aircraft parachute, unlocks potential future use cases that are currently challenging to address due to regulations – like flight over people, plus urban & residential deliveries at scale.”
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