Forget delivering packages via airplanes or ships – San Francisco-based startup Elroy Air has raised $9.2 million in order to launch a fleet of autonomous drones that are capable of delivering heavy cargo.
Aerospace engineers at Elroy Air spent two years developing the Chaparral, or the self-flying delivery drone. Like a helicopter, it can take off and land vertically using 6 rotors. It can also draw power from a matter mounter near its nose. Horizontal flight is made possible by the gas-powered pusher, lifting it from a 29-foot-wing.
CEO of Elroy Air, Dave Merrill, says, “We’re developing a big cargo drone.” The drone is made to travel up to 300 miles at a time and carry up to 500 pounds of cargo. The cargo will be attached in a pod on the aircraft’s underside during deliveries. It holds on to packages using a grasping mechanism that allows the Chaparral to pack and unpack packages on the ground in just a few seconds.
Inside of the cargo, the Chaparral will be reserved for more ‘humanitarian’ supplies such as food, water, and even bags of blood. The rest is open to everything else, like stuff ordered online (e.g. books, gadgets, clothes, etc.).
The drone will be undergoing its final testing this year and will possibly see a release in 2020.
