Draft 1: Summary on healthcare drones

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According to the webpage “Zipline (drone delivery)” from hand wiki (n.d) which gives an insight on the Zipline autonomous drone, the current mission of the drone is to deliver medical supplies to rural areas of the country that are difficult to access. Zipline currently has their own distribution center, which includes a drone airport where operators would pack medical supplies into a package with a parachute after orders from hospitals and clinics come through. The maximum payload is 1.75 kilograms, and each distribution center can handle up to 500 deliveries per day. 

A device used to deploy the drone is the “supercapacitor-powered electric catapult launcher.” According to Wang, Jun Wu, and Huang (2018), the device is a hybrid energy storage system consisting of a battery and super capacitor to reduce the volume and weight of the energy storage system. This allows the launching of the drone to be fast and efficient at 113 km/h in 0.33 seconds. 

 Since the drone is autonomous, it can reach its destination on its own within 45 minutes traveling at a cruising speed of 101km/h and an altitude of 80 and 120 meters. Once at its destination, it is programmed to descend to 20 to 32 meters above ground and drop the package with a parachute.  The drones operate on quickly replaceable batteries which allow fast and efficient turnaround between flights and are made with an inner carbon-fiber frame and outer polystyrene shell. According to an article titled “Carbon Fibers: Production, Properties and Potential Use” written by Bhatt and Goe (2017), carbon fiber is high in stiffness, tensile strength, low weight to strength ratio, corrosion resistant, electrically conductive and fatigue resistant, allowing the drone to be lightweight for longer travel times, able to withstand unfavorable weather conditions during its flight and allow higher payloads for delivery. According to the webpage “Zipline (drone delivery)” from hand wiki (n.d), one safety feature of the drone is the ability to operate with one propeller while having two propellers as back up in case one fails. Another safety feature is having the outer shell made of polystyrene, which is a brittle material, so that if the drone crashes, the exterior components are designed to break apart upon impact, dissipating energy and reducing overall force of impact. 

These materials and their properties make the drone a reliable way to aid in healthcare delivery by being fast, efficient, and safe, and Zipline has clearly demonstrated the potential of these drones.

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