zipline

When we last heard about Zipline, the California company was using parachutes to drop packages from its delivery drones to the ground. The firm's just-announced Platform 2 (P2) system, however, lowers loads inside of self-steering "droids."

Zipline has announced a new partnership with Walmart to conduct pilot trials using its drones to fulfil health and wellness orders in one hour, with hopes of expanding to general merchandise if the first runs are successful.

Zipline made headlines when it launched what it claimed was the world's first national drone delivery service, for transporting blood to medical clinics in Rwanda. Now, the company has announced an overhaul of that system, which involves upgrading to the "world's fastest delivery drone."

Zipline is looking to build on its success in Rwanda, today announcing plans to expand its blood-by-drone delivery service to Tanzania. The venture is billed as the world's largest drone delivery service, and will bring medical supplies to over one thousand health facilities around the nation.

What is claimed to be the world's first national drone delivery service has launched in Rwanda. Operated by US robotics firm Zipline in partnership with the Rwandan government, the service makes emergency deliveries of blood from a distribution hub to transfusion facilities up to 75 km (47 mi) away.

To overcome Rwanda's challenging topography, the Rwandan government and US startup Zipline are preparing to launch a drone delivery service that will start dropping much-needed blood bags to 20 remote hospitals in the coming months.

In the last couple of years drones have emerged as a very promising tool in the effort to protect Africa's wildlife, and now they are set to come to the aid of the continent's human as well.