Zipline

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

Zipline, GAVI, UPS, and the Rwandan Ministry of Health

Manufacturing/Building Method

The drones are designed and assembled at Zipline's headquarters in Half Moon Bay, California.

Intellectural Property Type

Patent Protected

User Provision Model

Zipline works with governments, NGOs or regional authorities to serve the medical community at the country level. Interested partners can contact Zipline on their information page or via email.

Distributions to Date Status

Zipline has made around 42,385 deliveries until now

Design Specifications

Zipline's "Zip" is a fixed wind drone. It is a proprietary design with all software and hardware designed in-house. It has a range of 100-150 km round trip, with 1.75 kg of cargo, depending on wind conditions. It is designed with redundancy in mind as it features two motors with independent batteries with redundant flight hardware both internal to the drone as well as on the ground based flight control servers. In the event of a catastrophic failure it has an emergency parachute and kevlar fuselage. The navigation software is proprietary and is called ZipNav. The flight code is written in C/C++ on the drone and C++ and Python on the ground systems. They utilize Micrium for the RTOS on the drone. Embedded systems on the drone use both Hercules and Atmel processors. Technical details: - Zipline uses pneumatic launch ramps to fire the drones aloft - Drone power supply: 2 interchangeable batteries - Drone weight: ~10 kg - Products are discharged with a parachute into a designated landing zone

Technical Support

Provided by Zipline as a part of the service

Replacement Components

Batteries

Lifecycle

Unknown

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

To be the last mile solution for critical medical supply deliveries in remote areas regardless of terrain or infrastructure.  

Vetted Performance Status

Since launch, Zipline has over 42,385 deliveries including over 10,000 units of blood.  Most deliveries arrive in under 30 minutes. ^{Interview with representative} The drones can deliver a product in about 15 minutes. They are capable of flying up to 75 mph with a range of about 93 miles. Each drone can support a payload of up to 3½ pounds.

Safety

All flights are coordinated with The Rwandan Civil Aviation Authority. All of the flight systems and hardware have built-in redundancies as well as an emergency parachute landing system in the case of catastrophic failure.

Complementary Technical Systems

Drone guidance system that logs the GPS coordinates for a received request and prints a delivery box label with a scannable code that programs the drone’s flight plan, thermally insulated packaging for the medicines, and blood. Zipline is also designing a custom guidance system.

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

In Rwanda: Zipline works closely with the Rwandan Civil Aviation Authority and is in compliance with all applicable UAV regulations. In Ghana: UAV regulations. Zipline is working toward Federal Aviation Administration certification

Other Information

Reddit AMA with Zipline team Zipline promotional video World Bank video on Zipline solution Interview with Keller Rinaudo - Zipline CEO/Co-founder Interview with Eugene Hoeven - Zipline Co-founder Wired article