Customer: Antwork Technology

Background

Established in 2015, Antwork Technology has long been at the forefront of drone delivery. The company has designed and deployed numerous UAV platforms, established autonomous drone ports throughout China, and developed its own cloud-based traffic management system to monitor its entire logistics ecosystem. In 2019, Antwork Technology received the first commercial drone delivery license from the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration to enable deliveries in highly-populated urban areas. Under this authorization, it has conducted consumer delivery trials with the likes of KFC and Starbucks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Antwork Technology executed emergency medical deliveries providing aerial delivery of blood and medicines, as well as rapid transport of COVID test samples. Recently, the company was contracted by the upcoming 2023 Asian Games to create an on-demand network of delivery drones to quickly transport potentially life-saving Automated External Defibrillators (AED) to first responders.

Customer Needs

Of all the applications for rapid-delivery UAV platforms, transporting life-saving medicine and equipment has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the drone delivery market. Their unique ability to dispatch equipment and medical tools to doctors and first responders has introduced medical professionals and consumers alike to the benefits of drone delivery. In China, delivery drone forerunners, Antwork Technology, has been deploying UAVs for a growing array of medical deliveries since 2019.

For early medical delivery missions, Antwork Technology developed static delivery ports that could be placed at hospitals and medical centers. Its Antwork MH2 autonomous drone port accommodated two drone landing pads with integrated storage and onboard drone charging stations. The company further expanded the reach of its delivery network with the portable Antwork RH1 stations, which could be easily relocated as demand shifted or new deployments launched.

As the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world, Antwork Technologies stepped to the plate to streamline time-sensitive COVID testing procedures. It deployed the mobile RH1 ports throughout a local city, establishing numerous test sites for local residents to visit. Within urban areas close to the hospital labs, Antwork Technology employed its compact RA3 delivery drone. While in more remote locations, the long-range RA5 platform expanded the service range to up to 120 kilometers round trip. It is understood that Antwork has deployed over a hundred medical drone routes in China serving over 20 hospitals.

Test samples were flown to the local hospital within the all-important two-hour window where the nucleic acid tests remained viable. The network of test sites and drone delivery platforms not only expedited testing and thereby the return of results to patients, but limited consumer exposure and delays that would have been possible had patients been forced to visit local hospitals.

“While our delivery of COVID test samples was born of necessity, now that the need for those deployments has ended, we are finding that customers in the medical industries are still eager to use the service for its speed and efficiency,” said Lei.

As the pandemic ebbed, Antwork Technology wound down the transport of test samples and emergency blood, and transitioned its network of autonomous drone ports to transporting blood and medicines between hospital facilities. The company also leveraged its now-proven track record to offer rapid first-aid support in emergency situations such as floods, fires and at large events. Delivering medical equipment, medicines, blood, etc. to first responders and medical teams in the field meant the team would no longer be able to rely solely on its static drone port infrastructure. With payloads needing to be delivered immediately to unknown landing zones and unknown conditions, Antwork Technology sought out A2Z Drone Delivery to outfit its drone fleet with a tethered delivery solution.

Solution

Anticipating first responders were likely to be engaged with patients as the drone arrived, or the rapid deployment of the drone could potentially arrive on station before first responders or medical staff, Antwork Technology needed to be able to auto-release the payloads as they reach the ground.

The drone agnostic Rapid Delivery System easily integrated with the Antwork TR9 flight platform which features an interchangeable cargo bay for varied applications. The A2Z Drone Delivery team worked closely with Antwork engineers to customize its payload release mechanism to accommodate the Antwork TR9’s temperature-controlled payload compartment, and adapted the drone winch firmware to seamlessly integrate with Antwork’s onboard companion computer.

With the drone winch mounted on the multicopters, payloads could now be delivered to the ground without having to land. Depositing payloads from altitude kept spinning propellers away from personnel and bystanders on the ground, and ensured any ground obstructions, like trees, wires, debris, etc. would never be a hindrance to the potentially-life saving deliveries.

The auto-release mechanism integrated with the RDS1 (and later the RDS2) UAS winch meant Antwork Technologies could place any package safely within reach of first responders without the Antwork team on the ground needing to divert attention from their work.

Results

Given the success of its past medical and first-aid deployments, Antwork Technology has been tasked with establishing a medical drone delivery network for the upcoming 2023 Asian Games.  The drone network will provide on-demand emergency transportation support for medical supplies, blood, and AEDs. Rapid drone deployment of the AED machines had been a validated practice for the Antwork Technology team for a few years. It first demonstrated the application during a 2019 marathon event. The experience reinforced the speed with which a drone delivery could supplant terrestrial personnel in reaching a patient.

“The A2Z RDS2 drone winch is perfectly suited to these first-aid response deliveries,” said Lei. “It can be difficult to utilize a fixed location to receive emergency equipment. The RDS2 allows our delivery drones to get needed materials to first responders anytime and anywhere.”

When a patient is in need of a life-saving defibrillator, every second counts. With a mere four minute “golden window of opportunity” for AED defibrillation, a heart attack victim needs every valuable second. Leveraging the efficiency of drone delivery, and the speed of the A2Z Rapid Delivery System, Antwork Technology can put that life-saving technology in the hands of medical teams as fast as possible.