Airbus Helicopters is collaborating with Singapore Post (SingPost) for the “Skyways” project, which will deploy unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for parcel deliveries.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus Helicopters’ executive vice president of engineering and chief technical officer, and Mervyn Lim, SingPost’s covering group CEO.
According to Airbus Helicopters, the lead architect, and SingPost, the logistics partner, Skyways is an experimental project to develop a safe and economically viable UAS parcel delivery system for use in urban environments.
An MoU was signed in February between Airbus Helicopters and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to conduct the Skyways proof-of-concept trial. Now, the research and development phase is at an advanced stage, and an initial trial phase is planned at the National University of Singapore (NUS) by early 2018. This will involve the transport of small packages within the university campus.
The concept involves systems and structures that allow drones to land, dock with secure structures, discharge or take on payloads, and then fly off to other destinations.
“Skyways was launched with the intent to provide highly efficient, reliable and seamless small parcel deliveries using drones in urban cities,” comments Dumont. “The project has been progressing well, and we welcome SingPost on board as our logistics partner in this critical phase as we work in tandem to develop a robust autonomous parcel delivery system that will revolutionize the logistics industry.”
