Airbus Helicopters and Singapore Post (SingPost) have signed an MoU to pursue a project to deliver parcels using unmanned aerial vehicles.
The 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, at the inaugural Rotorcraft Asia exhibition in Singapore (18th – 20th April).
Skyways is an experimental project to develop a safe and economically viable aerial unmanned parcel delivery system for use in urban environments. A MoU was signed in February 2016 between Airbus Helicopters and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to conduct the Skyways proof-of-concept trial.
The research and development phase is now at an advanced stage, with an initial trial phase planned at the National University of Singapore by early 2018. This will involve the transport of small packages within the university campus.
Airbus Helicopters is the overall Skyways system architect and provider, contributing its capabilities in drone platforms as well as its concept of future parcel delivery. This 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.
As the logistics partner for Skyways, SingPost will bring its expertise in software systems that control and manage delivery networks, customer-interface systems and real-time back-end links. SingPost will also contribute its understanding of postal and eCommerce logistics trends to ensure the solutions developed will address the future logistics needs of cities around the world.