Drone operator RigiTech reports a new milestone on the way to opening the skies for healthcare deliveries in Europe in a long-range Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) delivery of biological samples in Italy. The RigiOne, the company’s first generation drone with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) conducted several consecutive flights in collaboration with Leonardo and Telespazio in a safe, fast and reliable manner, says the Rigitech press release.
On October 19 and 20, 2020, RigiOne and RigiTech’s operations processes were put to test by connecting two sites of Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital near Rome. The deliveries were made between Santa Marinella Hospital and Palidoro Pediatric Hospital through a 32 km aerial route. Road transportation between the two sites takes from 45 minutes to one hour depending on the traffic, and the RigiOne drone was able to make this connection on-demand in just 25 minutes.
The operation was fully automatic and supervised through redundant communications linked through RigiCloud software which enabled reliable and constant monitoring and control of the operation during, take-off, landing and BVLOS parts of the delivery. Flight data was synchronised with Telespazio’s T-Dromes UTM to allow the flight, providing coordination with other airspace actors. Safety was assured through RigiTech’s onboard algorithms, advanced geofencing and failsafe systems, which are critical to gain support from Italy’s Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC).
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