Swedish sustainable drone delivery service Aerit has announced the completion of a drone delivery pilot project covering households across a 100km² (38 square mile) area in Norrtälje, Sweden.
The flights, conducted beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), provided on-demand grocery and product delivery to homes surrounding ICA Nära Gräddö Skärgårdshandel.
The scheme was funded by Sweden’s innovation agency, Vinnova, and involved collaboration between Aerit, ICAx, Research Institutes of Sweden, and Norrtälje Kommun to assess the benefits of drone delivery and public reception of it
The deliveries took place over six days in what the company describes as extreme weather conditions, including snow and temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius. Once final participants had been decided, orders were made through an app for delivery.
“The pilot project has been an unqualified success,” said Alex Perrien, CEO of Aerit.
“We reliably provided access to goods and services in harsh weather conditions to locations that normally require several modes of transportation to reach.
“We have replaced short car and boat trips to the store with Nimbi flights, reducing travel time while improving safety and sustainability.
“In addition to the support of Vinnova and our many project partners, none of this would have been possible without the innovative leadership at Transportstyrelsen who is working hard to maintain competitiveness of the Swedish airspace.”
Aerit’s autonomous Nimbi delivery drones, which are designed and built in-house, are battery-powered with a max payload capacity of 4kg (10lbs).
