Zipline

Zipline International

Snapshot
Manufacturing & delivery
Performance & use
Research & standards
Feedback

Product description Brand name and product description

Zipline is a delivery drone manufacturer that specializes in medical supplies delivery in remote locations in all weather conditions. Their drones or “Zips” as they call them are fixed wing delivery drones are currently serving 21 hospitals in Rwanda. They have a partnership with the Rwandan government to integrate their delivery system into the healthcare system and deliver life saving medical products to remote hospitals in under 30 minutes. The Zip does not require a landing site at the delivery locations as the medical product is dropped by parachute into a designated landing zone, a target area of five meters in diameter, and then it returns back to the distribution depot.

Target region(s) Target region for distribution/implementation (listed by country if specified)

Rwanda is the only active country, but Zipline is looking to add additional country markets at the end of the year, targeting Indonesia, Vietnam, and the USA.

Distributors/implementing organizations Organization(s) distributing/deploying this product directly to communities/individuals?"

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

Market suggested retail price Price per unit or service price per usage/terms (USD). Subsidies noted.

“Service model on a per flight basis with a minimum number of flights agreed upon. Drones are not for sale.”¹

Competitive landscape Similar products available on the market. May not be a comprehensive listing.

– Matternet ONE

– Flirtey

SDG targeted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targeted with this product/application/service

While goal #3 Good Health is the most applicable, goals #9 Infrastructure and #10 Reduced Inequalities would also apply

Target user(s) Target user/consumer base (country, income segment)

Governments, NGOs, and Health care providers supporting remote communities

Manufacturing/building method(s) Detail regarding solution production or construction method (instructions, mass production capacity, custom made,etc...)

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

Product Intellectual Property Open source/IP protected (note patent)/trade secret/other?

Zipline holds patents on autonomous vehicle operations, and UAV management

User Provision Model Where can the product be purchased/acquired by end users?

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

Distribution to date Number of units that have been deployed, downloads or users to date

Zipline is currently operating in Rwanda, serving 21 hospitals with over 800 deliveries. The system is currently averaging 17 deliveries a day, but it can scale to hundreds of deliveries per day.

Fields marked are sourced values that have been evaluated by the manufacturer or a third party, all others are design specifications.

Drone type

List type of drone (Fixed wind, quad copter, other

)

Weight (kg)

Take off / Landing type

Vertical, runway, catapult, hand launched, other

Carry case dimensions (m)

Cruise speed (km per hour)

GNSS system

List the navigation system (GPS, GLONAS, Galileo, BeiDou, other)

Flight time (hour)

Max flight time, coverage area, etc

Battery type

Sensors available (Y/N)

If yes, specify the type of sensors included and available for the platform

Type of data collected

Geolocation, Land Survey, Sensor readings, Image based data, OtherDisplay order

Drone software platform

List the drone tracking and management software specificationsDisplay order

Application

Objective of the drone platform [eAgriculture, Land survey, Disaster response, Impact analysis, Wildlife tracking, other]Display order

Design specifications Component and Operation overview including power, portability, facility requirements, preventative maintenance and user training requirements

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 1.5 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

Product schematics Design and assembly illustrations

Unavailable

Technical support Technical support provided by

Provided by Zipline as a part of the service

Replacement components Availability of replacement components (in-country, by order,...)

Provided by Zipline as a part of the service

Lifecycle Disposal and warranty

Since this is a service provided by Zipline for a per flight cost, there are not any ongoing life cycle costs.

Manufacturer specified performance targets Designer / Manufacturer specified targets

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

– A drone can deliver a product in about 15 minutes, can complete 150 blood deliveries per day, and is 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.

Vetted performance Findings of manufacturer evaluations or independent testing centers

To date Zipline has over 800 deliveries to 21 hospitals in Rwanda with an average delivery time of 30 minutes

Testing organizations Independent lab, academic research centers, etc.

Gavi, Zipline, UPS, and the Rwandan Ministry of Health are leading the prototype testing of the delivery service in Rwanda.

Safety Potential hazards / risks related to operation of this product

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 Performance of this product is improved with another technology (eg. Cookstoves and Wind-blocking skirts)

Drone guidance system which 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. Zipline is designing a custom guidance system.. Thermally insulated packaging for the medicines and blood.

Academic research Academic research related to the product (e.g. published papers in peer-reviewed journals)

(2016) The Roundup. Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology: May/June 2016, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 148-151.

Haidari, L.A., et. al., The economic and operational value of using drones to transport vaccines

Padua, D., From Caravaggio to Braque: Digital Technology and the Illusion of Augmented Responsibility. Communication Technology. 2016 Aug 25;474:241-256.

Scott JE, Scott CH. Drone Delivery Models for Healthcare. Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences2017. 2017 Jan 4.

WÜRBEL HEIKE. Framework for the evaluation of cost-effectiveness of drone use for the last-mile delivery of vaccines. University of Barcelona, ISGlobal 2016-2017. 2017 Jun 13.

Compliance with regulations Product certifications and standards referenced by designer/manufacturer

Zipline works closely with the Rwandan Civil Aviation Authority and is in compliance with all applicable UAV regulations

Evaluation methods Evaluation methods/protocols/guidelines referenced by designer or manufacturer.

Field trials

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

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