Not many Americans have experienced a delivery by drone. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its quarantines and contagion, may change that. In addition, broadcast speakers attached to drones may ease the aerial delivery process.
Drones have proven useful overseas for crowd control, patrolling public areas that are closed to slow the spread of disease and for deliveries of medical supplies and food. In the U.S., law enforcement has stepped up drone use; largely to inspect more ground and to communicate while keeping exposure down—important, with police in multiple locales having tested positive for COVID-19 after personal interaction.
U.S. drone use is not likely to reach the proportions found in other nations for the simple reason that regulations here are more restrictive. Still, drone use is expanding with the potential to help not just law enforcement, but also medical officials and emergency aid agencies.
The use of drone-mounted speakers has not only become an obvious plus for police and other public safety officials, but the speakers also can help with deliveries.
Heavy-Lift Matrice 600 Pro
With its 13-pound payload, the DJI Matrice 600 Pro is a good candidate to deliver medical supplies and food to places that might otherwise expose personnel to the virus. When equipped with a loudspeaker, it also facilitates contact-free communication.
The M600 Pro is a hexacopter—it has six powerful motors and a battery for each. It’s a very stable flier, even in crosswinds and it can hover. The horizontally mounted propellers allow it to take off and land vertically, so it has no need for an airstrip. Takeoff and landing are one-button simple.
Once a compatible camera is mounted, the drone beams live video of everything it sees. Images appear on a smartphone or tablet connected to its remote controller.
Food deliveries have been carried out successfully in an M600 Pro test program over a North Dakota golf course. More serious duties would be assigned now such as delivering meals to a family quarantined and struggling with the effects of COVID-19 or getting medical supplies to a facility such as a nursing home that’s closed to outsiders. Built-in GPS makes route planning easy and the deliveries accurate.
Delivery drones would require third-party cargo systems, some of which can drop cargo. For flights over people, Drone Recovery Systems with emergency parachutes would need to be installed.
Communicating Without Contact
A variety of speakers can be mounted to the M600 Pro, along with third-party payload-carrying accessories. The speaker is critical when people are unfamiliar with drone deliveries.
The pilot, located a safe distance away, can use the streaming video to spot people standing near a landing spot—for instance, addressing bystanders by using the loudspeaker and advising them to stay clear. Once the drone has landed, the recipient can be instructed over the speaker on how to remove cargo safely. Authorities also can remotely reinforce information on dealing with an emergency, such as reminding people where to get help.
Walkie-talkie systems are compatible with some loudspeakers, helping to keep service teams in multiple locations informed of deliveries and other operation details.
Devices
- Matrice 600 Pro Hexacopter
- Matrice-Compatible Cameras
- Speaker with Independent Connection
- DJI PSDK Speaker
- High-Powered Speaker
- A3 Pro Flight Controller
- Third-Party Payload Accessories
- Nexus Drone Recovery Systems
- Comprehensive Battery Management System
- Spare Intelligent Flight Batteries
- SDK Kits
Interested in using a drone to advertise