Zipline: Driverless Zomato in the skies

Innovative AI medical distribution system evolving in Africa

Which nations will lead the AI revolution revolution in the world? I am sure one would think the answer to be United States or any other developed nation. Surprisingly, the answer could be Africa. And who could be powering these innovative solutions: Google, Amazon or Apple? Boom! Brace yourselves for another surprise it could be small startups. The combo of a startup operating in Africa sounds like a recipe of failure. Well, probably the world does not function the way we perceive. It has a long list of geniuses who ended up making a fool of themselves.

Lets take an example of Zipline: A California born AI powered logistics company founded in 2015 that use drones to deliver payloads. The company has tied-up with national governments of Rwanda and Ghana to strengthen its medical distribution system.

Why drop bombs from the skies, when you can drop medical supplies.

Delivery mechanism

1. The client hospital within a 80km radius of the central distribution system requests its requirement using the Zipline app. The requirements could be anything ranging from a bottle of blood to a life saving emergency medicine.
2. The team will prepare the 20 kg ready for the flight. The payload could weigh upto 1.6 kg. A scanner using computer vision would first inspect the drone to ensure that the drone is ready for the flight.
3. Once ensured, the payload is tied to the drone and using a runway rail the drone reaches a speed of 110 km/hr in half a second.
4. The location of the drone is continually tracked using the installed GPS. The live location is shared between three parties: Zipline, client hospital and nearby Airport authorities for using the airspace.
5. The drone has all the critical components in a pair of two- for contingencies. If one of the two critical component fails, the drone goes for a soft landing using a parachute.
6. The drone drops the payload at the delivery location using a parachute. Because no landing is needed at the client site, no specialized infrastructure needs to be developed at the client site.
7. Drone returns to its base location for landing. This is my favourite part of its journey. Using its GPS location and a hook at the rear end, a soft landing is ensured using an elastic wire as well as an inflated mattress.

Landing of the Zipline

The steps are quite similar to a Swiggy or Zomato delivery except that the delivery vehicle is in the skies with no driver in it. Isn’t it cool!

Benefits

1. In the midst of the second covid wave in India, I had to order from Amazon and the biggest concern for me and my family was the risk of exposure to the virus. With the help of Zipline, the payload could have been sanitized at the central warehouse and the automated delivery would have reduced the probable risk of infection.
2. The wastage of perishable items can be minimized because the delivery takes place on-demand from the client. To put into perspective, there has been zero wastage of blood in Rwanda and Ghana at the client hospitals served by Zipline.
3. Per mile delivery through Zipline roughly cost the same as a motorcycle delivery but the major difference lies in the speed. A Zipline drone flies point to point at a speed of 110 km/hr. Difficult to serve areas with no proper road infrastructure can also be benefitted.
4. Zipline can help in making the distribution system extremely centralised therefore, eliminating the extensive need of establishing an extensive network of a Cold chain network.

Why is Zipline not operational in the US?

Zipline has been voted as the most innovative company of the years in a row. CNBC voted it the same for 2 years in a row- first in 2019 and then in 2020. Then why are we not seeing Zipline drones in skies of America? The reason- regulatory approvals. US is still skeptical to allow the company to use its air space for distribution. It is easier to get approval from developing or African nations with skies not yet filled with air traffic.

The company is in talks with Maharashtra and Telangana governments for regulatory approval. I hope we would be able to see the marquee red Zipline drones flying across the Indian skies soon.