Aerit, a sustainable drone delivery service based in Stockholm, completed Sweden’s first commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) food delivery in collaboration with Region Halland using its autonomous drone the Nimbi.
The company aims to facilitate access to goods and services regardless of location, weather, time of day, or personal ability. Their delivery platform connects businesses with their customers using their Nimbi drones. Nimbi drones are capable of both pick-up and delivery without the need for additional infrastructure.
The inaugural delivery flight began at a local cafe where a galette was winched into the Nimbi waiting at hover. The drone then flew a pre-planned 2.7km route to the delivery location where the package was delivered.
The galette was delivered as part of a pilot project designed to explore both the technical and regulatory aspects of drone delivery under new EU wide regulations allowing for commercial drone operations. The regulations came into effect in January of this year.
“Autonomous flying drones provide numerous advantages to traditional last-mile solutions including speed, sustainability, accessibility, and, of course, a certain cool-factor.” said Alexander Perrien, Chief Executive Officer of Aerit. “We have been working closely with Region Halland and Transportstyrelsen to ensure that today’s delivery marks the beginning of long-lasting relationships to enable the growth of drone delivery across Sweden and the EU.”
The delivery follows the first BVLOS food delivery in Sweden conducted by a team of RISE researchers in 2019.
Aerit’s Nimbi delivery drones are battery powered with a max payload capacity of 4kg. Nimbi features an autonomous winching system that allows for both package pick-up and drop-off without the need for additional infrastructure. Aerit will begin offering continuous delivery services in select locations across Sweden in 2022.
The entire delivery and testing process was filmed for a short documentary to be released later this year.
