Drones in the service of German pharmacies

Two drones weighing 5 kilograms and with a range of up to 30 kilometers will soon be transporting medicines in Upper Franconia, Bavaria. Officials there say it is a pioneering project on a German scale. Initially, five pharmacies from the Bayreuth and Wunsiedel regions will take part.

If the experiment is successful, drug delivery drones could greatly help local residents and local pharmacies in the future. Drug deliveries are often hampered by traffic jams, road works or inaccessible destinations. In an emergency, this can have fatal consequences.

The project is being carried out by the Upper Franconia Offensive Society on behalf of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. In the future, drones could deliver medicines not only to doctors' offices, but also to individual customers in nursing homes and pharmacies. Accelerated drug delivery in conjunction with video medical advice is also being considered. "The drone can be precisely aimed at a target and pick up a payload from an open hatch," - explains Tim Fisher of DiAvEn, the company that developed the drone. The first test flights are scheduled for autumn at the latest. The operational license is still subject to approval by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Participants stress that safety is paramount. The drone has two batteries. Computers and remote pilots monitor the entire flight from Berlin and otherwise fly fully autonomously based on GPS input. In the event of unmanaged events and the creation of a hazard in the air, a parachute will slowly lower the device to the ground.

source: dw.com