A recent demonstration mission supported by Unifly Compliance in Italy enabled a cargo drone to transport biomedical material from the Flegrean mainland to Ischia in 15 minutes, reaching the Rizzoli Hospital in Lacco Ameno.
Conducted as part of the Aetos project, the test demonstrated how drones can help reduce the time, constraints and costs associated with transport to islands. The test was carried out within the area under the responsibility of ASL Napoli 2 Nord, with collaboration from Unmanned4you and FlyingBasket and the municipalities of Bacoli and Casamicciola Terme, with Unifly Consulting providing support on operational planning, risk analysis and the authorisation process.
The project is now progressing, with the aim of turning these trials into a stable and repeatable service. “This involves validating the operational procedures, identifying the most effective ways of managing missions, training personnel and addressing all the elements required to integrate the service into existing ground processes,” Unifly said on 25 September.
For the Aetos project, Unifly focused in particular on defining the operational concept, conducting the risk analysis and liaising with the competent authorities, with the aim of identifying and addressing the risks associated with the operational scenario.
As Marco Ducci, Uniflly Consulting Director, explains, the development of new UAS services requires regulatory and safety considerations to be addressed from the earliest stages of the design process, creating the conditions for operations that are not only innovative, but also safe, sustainable and repeatable. From this perspective, the authorisation process is not merely a formal requirement, but an essential component in the development of a new service. It makes it possible to assess the operational scenario, identify the associated risks and define the framework needed to manage them and bring technological innovation into a real-world environment.
Unifly is also preparing for a new European project alongside San Raffaele Hospital, ABzero and the Metropolitan City of Milan. Within the Milan Living Lab of the IAM-CC project, services for transporting blood, biological samples, medicines and other critical medical materials between healthcare facilities will be tested. The objective is to understand how such services can become an integral part of the healthcare system and future urban mobility in a sustainable, safe and socially accepted way.
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