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Cargo drone delivers blood samples between hospitals in the Greater Oslo area

Nordic Unmanned and Bærum Municipality conduct cargo drone delivery of blood samples between hospitals in Bærum.

The project is an innovation project led by Bærum Municipality and is enabled by Nordic Unmanned and its fully automated cargo drone, the Staaker®. The route of the cargo drone was between Sunnaas Hospital and Blakstad Hospital, and Sunnaas Hospital and Fornebu HUB, delivering critical goods, such as blood samples.

It takes one hour to drive from Sunnaas to Blakstad by car, outside rush hour. Flying a drone over the fjord, only takes 17 minutes. project aims to examine the benefits of using a drone for cargo delivery, such as saving time, cutting emissions, and reducing traffic on our roads. In addition to these benefits, blood samples will be analysed much faster than before,”

Ingeborg Briseid Kraft, Project Manager, Bærum Municipality

The cargo drone transferring the blood samples can lift 10 kg. The box is equipped with sensors that measure pressure, temperature, movement, and g-force. During the test period, two samples are transported, one with cargo drone and the reference sample with a car. This enables Bærum Municipality to determine if the quality and validity of the blood samples are affected by drone transport.

The Drone Project is yet another milestone for Nordic Unmanned Cargo and our urban logistics services. The Staaker Logistics drone enables fast and safe multi-point delivery of dangerous goods in urban areas. Nordic Unmanned is the only operator currently offering this as a commercial service, not just as a test project. We can offer this as a standardised service because we can self-authorise our drone operations under our Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC), allowing us to expand the service across all of Europe rapidly,” explains Pål Kristensen, Vice President of Logistics at Nordic Unmanned.

The innovation project with cargo drones is part of a larger drone initiative in Bærum Municipality. In parallel with the cargo deliveries, Bærum is looking at other areas where drones can help improve services offered by the Municipality. The mapping will conclude with a recommendation of which areas of drone transport the municipality should pursue further.