Drones in service in conjunction with Health Tech. Sounds like a winner, right? We covered Flirtey’s drone disaster site delivery service co-developed with NASA – the same company that partnered with Domino’s Pizza Enterprises for another form of emergency delivery. The Telemedical Drone Project, a model program developed in concert by the William Carey College of Osteopathic Medicine and the unmanned aerial systems program at Hinds Community College, includes live audio and video operations support from medical personnel called HiRO (Health Integrated Rescue Operations).
Matternet, a Menlo Park, California company, is pushing the drone delivery medical service puck further down the ice with ADDS: Autonomous Drone Delivery Service. In a September 20, 2017 press release, the company announced the Matternet station. Matternet’s initial implementation go-ahead in March 2017 was its authorization to commence “full operations of drone logistics networks over densely populated areas in Switzerland. The first Matternet Stations will service healthcare systems in Switzerland to automate on-demand transportation of blood and pathology samples between hospital facilities.” Matternet Station is a fixed location departure and reception facility that works with the M2 Drone and Matternet’s Cloud platform. The Matternet Station can be installed on the ground or rooftops. The fixed facility needs power, an Internet connection, a clear view of the sky, and an approximately 2 meter square footprint.
Users send and receive Matternet deliveries by scanning QR code on the modular delivery packages carried by the drone. Air traffic control works without human assistance by each station’s automated aerial conflict detection and resolution system that manages drone traffic over the station. The automated aerial conflict resolution system sounds like a precursor to a career buster for human air traffic controllers. Matternet has a handle on more than just drones. The company is also the exclusive drone logistics system partner for Mercedes-Benz for uses with Daimler’s M-B vans.
