Ground Zero Test Facility Expansion: Developing Tomorrow’s Drone Delivery Solutions Today

We are truly excited to announce expansion plans at our drone delivery proving grounds where our development team tests the next generation of commercial delivery drones under true real-life conditions. Situated in a lush bamboo forest in Anji County outside Shanghai, our Ground Zero Test Facility allows our engineers to work in varying topographies and environmental conditions. Most importantly, in cooperation with local officials, we are able to conduct drone deliveries to actual consumers, giving us first-hand knowledge of how the end consumer will interact with our delivery drones. These combined insights enable us to design the most cutting-edge autonomous delivery drones that prioritize consumer safety by delivering from altitude where spinning propellers are kept far from people and property.

Flexibility to Push the Envelope
While our global team is based in Los Angeles, California, the opportunity to test our next generation commercial delivery drones and drone winches here is often limited to unoccupied air fields and other remote spaces. At our Ground Zero Test Facility, we are able to conduct flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) as we push the envelope with our latest platforms. Flying daily missions over forests, mountains and local communities, makes for the most real-life trials possible. 

Daily Drone Deliveries
For just over a year, we have been conducting daily drone deliveries to the remote communities around our Ground Zero Test Facility. During the pandemic, we delivered test kits and medical supplies to homebound residents. These deliveries were so successful that we expanded the service, and now provide drone delivery of food and beverages for a local campground where guests can have meals delivered to their campsite or to designated locations throughout the surrounding mountain hiking trails. Most-recently, we have begun daily parcel deliveries from the regional logistics hub to local homes. These service offerings provide a great cross section of consumer use cases, and demonstrable data to prove the reliability, safety and efficiency of our UAV delivery platforms.

Expanded Facilities
With this new expansion at the Ground Zero Test Facility, we are doubling our engineering lab space to accommodate our growing team. In addition to more lab space, we are also adding living accommodations for visiting customers, prospects and members of our engineering team. The new space will also allow us to further scale the local drone delivery services we offer to surrounding communities.

Proving Ground for Next Gen Platforms
To truly push the boundaries of autonomous unmanned drone delivery, our development team needs to be able to test our latest delivery drone systems under true real-life conditions. As US regulations expand to compete with those in operation around the world, the work we are doing at our Ground Zero Test Facility ensures we will have demonstrated the reliability, safety and efficiency necessary to take to the skies with the most cutting-edge delivery drone systems. 

If you would like to follow the latest developments from our engineering team at the Ground Zero Test Facility, please check out our developers blog here: https://www.a2zdronedelivery.com/ground-zero-test-facility