This Indian drone takes off like a rocket and flies like a plane. And its maker wants it to deliver as cheaply as a truck.
It’s the TRT, built by Bengaluru startup Airbound.
It’s a tail-sitter. It stands on its tail, lifts off straight up, then tips forward and flies on its wing.
Founder Naman Pushp says most delivery drones need about four kilos of aircraft to lift one kilo of cargo.
The TRT is a single blended wing made of carbon fibre. It weighs about a kilo and a half, and carries one kilo up to 40 kilometres.
Since January, it’s been flying diagnostic samples for Narayana Health in Bengaluru, four kilometres in about 10 minutes. Within weeks, the hospital stopped sending them by road.
Across Bengaluru and Guntur, Airbound has now logged more than 13,000 autonomous flights.
It started as a teenager’s lockdown project. In August, it raised 37 million dollars, with DoorDash among the backers.
Next up is a three-city network in Andhra Pradesh, targeting up to 10,000 flights a day.
The big pitch is cost. Last year, Airbound put a delivery at about 24 rupees or about 25 cents. The aim is for a lot less.
The founder says regulation is the bottleneck, especially flying beyond the pilot’s line of sight.
Source: www.yahoo.com
